Getting Cold In A Season Of Warmth
by RoseOfPhantom
Summary: Sequel to Growing Warm Where There Should Only Be the Cold. Pitch's terror on the world has increased dramatically, and the Guardians have not caught him for almost ten years. Jack and Morgan constantly are helping out in the fight, while at the same time struggling with how to raise a growing human daughter in a world filled with spirits and Guardians.
1. Guardian Child

**Guess who's back, guys?! The sequel is here, sooner than I thought it would, but it the entire plot formed one day at work. I honestly have no idea how long I have til I get REALLY GOOD internet so I apologize if I don't actually get on the ball about updating because of internet. Also, with school start in like... three weeks, and my two jobs (although one barely ever work) I don't actually know if I will be able to update daily like I used to. This is my final year of University so I really want to buckle down. I will try my hardest, but like I said, I don't know. I think the promise of once a week at least is pretty doable. So that's what I'm telling you. Could be more, but I will get at least one a week up.**

**Thank you for being so devoted! I'm excited to be back! Also, please don't be afraid to correct me! I do go over it, but another pair of eyes, especially one who is NOT the author is really a good thing to have! As an author I already know what it's supposed to say so it's like my eyes just magically put it there so I can miss a lot! Give me corrections, and feedback is welcome.**

Enjoy the return of Jack, Morgan... and now Wendy ;)

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The Yeti with the charcoal colored fur spun back around to face his area of the workbench, pounding carefully with the hammer smaller than his thumb. She stepped forward and placed her booted foot in front of her. The wood gave a small whine and she looked worriedly at the creature draped in a small red pointed hat. He smiled and nodded furiously. She held a finger to her lips, with the twitch of her brow sending him a warning. He cowered before her but nodded, keeping close to her ankles. She zoomed out from her hiding spot and hugged the leg of a table just as a silver haired Yeti walked on past. She breathed and slid away from the table, looking for that special one. On her elbows and her knees, she crawled across the hardwood, spying a glimmer of something she had asked for several months ago and still wanted. The black rucksack with the embedded metal snagged on a splinter of wood She growled and pulled on the strap. Her anxiety built the more she struggled pulling away her bag. With a jerk, it loosened, but a strand of fabric stuck out of the front. She could not waste time to grieve her faithful item and tumbled out of the way of the large creature. The irises of electric blue searched the area frantically. It had to be around here somewhere.

"Pertrirk mesawa jog!" garbled an angry voice. She squealed and held her rucksack tightly to her chest, jaw set and eyes snapped open with surprise at the furry face right in front of her.

"Isabelle!" Wendy chuckled carefully, pushing aside a swaying chunk of her chestnut colored hair. The blues in her eyes looked over at the tables, wondering where that table had been tucked away so carefully. "Hey there, how are you doing today? Did you do something with your fur? You look love-"

"Wertjkuurk metwada shomet-"

"Please, not this again..." She moaned as the extra hairy Yeti lifted her up from under the table and set her upright. Three more Yetis closed in on her and she slung her head back, dreading this lecture in the Yeti language. She hated being lectured in Yeti. It made everything sound ten times angrier, and occasionally she came across a word she didn't know. Her Yeti lessons weren't yet complete. The four of them shouted at her, and she made out most of what they said. They lectured her about honestly and integrity. They reminded her about North's naughty list. They reminded her about laws. Once again, they expressed displeasure at that being the forth time in the last six months she had attempted to break in and see her gifts. Then they went on about how her parents expected her to behave and be responsible while they were out searching for Pitch.

"You honestly believe that's what they're doing?" she scoffed. "I bet they're off having fun without me. Dad's on a mountain top having a snowball fight, and Mom's flinging around dew bullets. Or worse, ugh." More yelling in Yeti. Wendy flushed scarlet as she suffered the foreign language and it's reprimanding her for being reckless and disobedient, and telling her that while they were gone, they were responsible for her and anything that happened was going to be on them. She endured the rest of this lecture as two of the Yeti's scooted her along and escorted her out the door, the third one taking her hand and walking her through the lengthy trek from the workshop to the house. Wendy looked up and scoffed at the Moon. It was annoying how she could always see the moon and the sun up at the pole. She was always being watched. She hung her head in shame, for show, as the Yeti patted her head and shuffled through the door with her. Wendy decided she had grown tired of the talk and padded across the floor to her bedroom, launching herself onto her lime green bedspread and then looking up at the rainbow wheel plastic chandelier hanging over her bed. Of course, everything about it was fake, the lights weren't even real, but it looked pretty cool to her, hanging over her bed like that. Wendy kicked off her black platform boots and stretched out, producing a small camera from her rucksack, throwing it aside and then twisting the key on a small harp shaped music box she received she was six years old. She turned the key as far as it would go and lay on the bed, listening carefully to the notes tinkling. Several moments went by and she wound it up again. She wound it up a total of five times before there was a gentle knock on the door.

"What?" Wendy moaned, sprawling out on the bed.

"That's not very polite, Wendy," sternly came the voice of her mother. She hopped up and straightened her purple skirt with the jagged edge and pulled up the collar of her cropped white t-shirt. With the politeness of an angel, she opened the door and spotted not just her mother looking down at her with displeasure contorting her brows and her lips, but also her father, leaning against the door frame and looking perhaps a little more amused than his wife, but definitely not entirely happy.

"Jacob said you snuck into the workshop today," Morgan said to her daughter.

"I got bored!" Wendy huffed. "Well else am I supposed to do?"

"You have the TV, you have a computer, you have books, you have this huge house to yourself, you could go out and make snowman!" Morgan lectured while Wendy dramatically turned away from her.

"I do that all the time! I want a friend over once in a while..."

"Nathan and Bess are coming up next week," Jack said to her. "Just wait a little longer."

"Dad! I mean friends! Not my brother and sister!"

"Then we'll talk to Cecil and Charlee-"

"You don't get it! They're always there! They're basically like my cousins, okay? Anyone who is a part of my family or Linda's family – those are the only people I am ever around, okay?"

"You know, she wouldn't have done this if you hadn't encouraged her," Morgan mumbled to the winter spirit, as he stood beside her in his frost covered blue sweatshirt and brown trousers. Jack gave her a confounded look, his frost colored hair swaying as he quickly turned his head to her.

"How did I encourage her?!"

"You're supposed to be example! Instead you get into trouble all the time and who's the one who has to clean up your messes? Me." Wendy growled and stared dully at her parents as they began one of their classic arguments on who was the one to blame for Wendy's lack of discipline.

"I take responsibility for the things I do, and I haven't gotten into nearly as much trouble since Wendy arrived!"

"Come on guys..." Wendy moaned, slumping against the wall and waiting impatiently for them to move out of her room.

"You snuck into the workshop with her when she was three years old!"

"With permission!"

"It doesn't matter, you showed her how to get in!"

"Like she would remember that!"

"Baby Tooth reminded me," Wendy threw in. The both of her parents looked down at her with both shock and annoyance. "And no, Dad didn't show me that. Why are you so quick to blame him when I get into trouble?"

"Because he acts like a teenager and doesn't follow rules," Morgan scoffed, exiting from the room. When Jack followed Morgan, Wendy breathed happily and slammed the door. Morgan looked back and furrowed her brow at the shut door. "And don't slam doors!"

"I _act_ like a teenager?!" Jack repeated and then laughed at the comment. "Love, have you forgotten? Frozen at fifteen! I'm going to act like a teenager forever!"

"So you remind me every time you do something stupid..."

"Have you ever thought that just maybe she acts that way because it's in her own personality?" Jack considered and Morgan sighed, her eyes moving with the motion of frustration. She removed the leather jacket she had wore over her sheer purple tunic and her leather corset belt. She kicked off the boots on her feet, the small brown bows on her cream colored leggings shaking slightly. In her bare feet, she walked over to the stove and stole the kettle to fill it with water.

"Her personality should not include going against her parents wishes," she told him.

"Never said it should! But that doesn't necessarily mean it's me doing it..."

"I didn't mean that..." she muttered apologetically as she flipped on the burner.

"Then why did you say it?"

"Well, you can't at least deny you showed her how to do things she probably shouldn't have learned."

"I don't deny it, but it's in my personality too."

"Are you sure she's not your biological daughter?" Morgan teased affectionately as she let the water boil and walked towards her husband. Jack wrapped his ice cold hands around her waist and she rested her palms against his frozen sweatshirt, loving the way her skin crawled and tightened under his temperature.

"Oh well, I forgot to tell you, nine months before Wendy was most likely born, there was this human girl and-"

"Shut up!" Morgan laughed, tilting her head back. "But really, Jack, what's going on with Wendy? For the last two years she's just gotten worse."

"She basically told us, Morgs," he said. "She's lonely."

"I don't know how. I mean she has the elves, the fairies, the Yetis, sometimes the eggs, Sandy, North, Tooth, Bunny, you, me, Linda, her family, she's got Elizabeth ad Nathan, and Hamilton-"

"That isn't what she means at all. She grew up with all of us. Elizabeth and Nathan are her siblings, I'm sure Linda and her family feel likes family. Your dad... hasn't been the same since your mother died. She can't even see half of her family because they don't believe. I don't even remember the last time she saw Brad and Max for more than ten minutes. She feels uncomfortable with Hamilton because she doesn't know how to treat him. Plus... we're never exactly home. We're always out looking for Pitch."

"What am I supposed to do, Jack?" Morgan wriggled away from his hold and proceeded to wipe down the table.

"I honestly think everything would calm down if she had a human friend who wasn't a family member."

"Yeah, like that's going to be possible!" she snarled, rubbing at a dirty spot that Wendy had probably created. "What are we supposed to do, send her to public school?! She's a Guardian child, Jack! The world doesn't even know she exists! She's not even supposed to exist!"

"How about you keep your voice down so she doesn't hear?" Jack advised firmly, looking to his daughter's bedroom door worriedly.

"What if her parents need to be contacted? Knowing her, what if she gets in trouble at school?"

"We could always ask Hamilton if he would be willing to pose as her father for instances like that. I mean it's believable, right? Elizabeth and Nathan are her sister and brother and she does have Barry in her name."

"Jack, there are no records of her existence anywhere. No birth records, no recognition, nothing. It wouldn't be believable. Besides, she doesn't belong down there! She gets to visit Harrisburg on the promise that she stays with them."

"One day a month!" Jack added for emphasis. Morgan looked to him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"This is the world she knows! She might become good friends with someone, but then all she would have to talk about is this world! She would be thought of as crazy and wouldn't be believed. Elizabeth and Nathan already get grief for believing their mother is a spirit who controls the summer moisture and fights with Pitch. I simply believed in you and the others and that was enough for people to believe I needed psychiatric help."

"But you had Linda, Morgan! She believed you! Every word you said, and never stopped! There could still be someone who would believe."

"I can't take that risk. She lives among Guardians-"

"She's also human!"

"But she doesn't know that!" Morgan snapped and Jack took a step back from her sudden tone.

"She's going to find out eventually..." Jack said. "Morgan, she's nine. She's going to figure out everyone else ages, but we're not, that she's aging, and it's probably going to happen soon. And then she's going to discover that she's adopted."

"And what if she wants to find her birth mother?"

"Then, we let her seek her out."

"So she can find out she was a garbage baby?!"

"Morgan, not so loud..." he hushed, keeping an eye on the door some distance away.

"She's still a kid. She doesn't know how to control herself."

"And you are a mother first, a Guardian second, and a human being third. Which is exactly why you're acting this way. You know, if you limit her, she's just going to rebel, and it will be ten times worse."

"What's she going to do, take the sleigh and go to Pennsylvania?" Jack chuckled sheepishly. Morgan's jaw dropped with the horror of her own words. "Oh my God, she's going to take the sleigh..."

"She's nine, Morgan. Imagine what she'll be like when she's a teenager."

"Maybe she'll be more mature then and listen."

"He he he... yeah, sure. You just keep believing that," Jack's voice dripped with sarcasm. He walked through the house and enter the living room, taking up a spot on the old fashioned couch that sat in front of the Tudor style fireplace. He reclined, propping his bare feet up against the arm of the couch at its end and using the other arm to rest his hand on. "Morgan, what do you plan on doing when she becomes a teenager and starts wanting a relationship?" The woman, who had just begun to enter the living room, stopped in the door and blinked rapidly. Her face washed of its color and she stared at him, mouth agape. Jack smirked, pleased with himself for making her stop as she did.

"Well, we don't have to worry about that right now, do we?"

"If I remember right, you had an innocent kid crush on me when you were ten."

"Okay, but that's because you were around."

"And what about Tristan? You were eleven, you started liking him and twelve, and you dated him when you were thirteen. And then there was us. It will come sooner than you think."

"Uh, well... it..." Jack moved over and allowed her to sit on the cushion beside him. Morgan huffed as she rested in the spot, and leaned towards the winter spirit, dropping her head onto his shoulder. Jack tousled her hazelnut hair, shifting her length of waves around her neck. "I just don't know how to raise a child this way. I don't know how to take care of a child in a world that is so different from what she wants. I don't want to deny her what she wants I just... don't know."

"You know... maybe that's how your mother felt," he whispered carefully, the ice on his lips tickling her ear. Her eyes widened with his observation and he grinned at her. "I'm just saying, love. I don't think her methods were great and I think she got a little mean. But you know she loved you, and I think the older she got, the more she learned, and she was just trying."

"Our relationship was getting so much better..." Morgan sniffed. Jack grazed her cheek with the touch of her lips, holding her warm body against his freezing form. "And then she... just..."

"You know, that might be another thing..." Jack added. "Do you remember how confused Wendy was when she died? She has never experienced death. Simply put, Morgan, we need to let her see the real world. What happened to my little realistic girl?" Morgan chuckled and pulled herself further into his body, nuzzling his chest.

"I don't know how anymore..."

"Maybe we should start with being home more."

"But with Pitch-"

"But we also have a very realistic life, and we need to learn to balance work and family my dear."

"She still needs to be disciplined. She can't bust into North's workshop. And _you_ are going to discipline her!" Jack groaned, head swinging down to his chest. He rolled his head so he could peer down at the beauty in his lap and.

"Only because you're pretty," he laughed. She scowled. "And because she is our daughter and it is my duty as her father to raise her and make sure she makes the right decisions."

"That's better!" She chirped and leapt up to kiss him.

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**Also I do want to add, you can come and chat with me too! You can message me on here, or find me on Skype, roseofphantom2010 or find my tumblr, roseofphantom. You talk to me about my story, your story, advice on something, have questions, or even if you just feel like chatting! See you in the next chapter!**


	2. Thread Ripper

**Hey guys so this is what has been happening the last couple of days I didn't update. I needed to help my family help my mom leave her husband. I'll just leave it at he's a control freak and verbally abusive. Mom is not the type to just give up and she still loves him, I know that, but she also knows she can't live like that. It was hard and it hurts me that she's hurting, but so i've been doing that. And the job I never talk to you about because I hate it so much fired me because I never worked there. Well, I never worked there because I couldn't get hours. Also they did it incredibly unprofessionally: voicemail, Saturday, 8:30 at night. Thanks guys. And I couldn't tell my fiance about it because the internet has been complete crap so that just made everything great. Now it's storming out and threatening my electricity. So enjoy this chapter, the product of three days worth that I worked on when I had down time and wasn't spending it crying.**

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"Hey Wenders?" Jack carefully tried as he stuck his head in the door. Her sharp eyes flit up to him before she twisted the knob of the volume on her mp3 player. Jack knew from the direction of her thumb that she had turned it up and not down. He hissed painfully before closing the door softly. "Come on, dear, it's just me."

"You're here to yell at me..." she sighed, and flipped her body around so her mismatched stocking feet were resting on her blue polka dotted pillow. "I don't want to hear yelling."

"No, I'm not, okay, I'm here to talk." Wendy raised a single eyebrow suspiciously. "I promise." The young girl removed both ear buds and sat up properly on her bed. Jack walked forward and took her willingness to be an invitation to come in. He grinned graciously and then sat on the corner edge of her bed. She waited for him to speak. "Your mother was raised... very differently than you're being raised. It's a different kind of environment."

"Because of grandma's catholic upbringing or because she tried to raise her in a human environment and she wasn't?" Jack cringed at her words, remembering how, despite them never having said anything, Wendy assumed her mother had been a spirit her whole life. He chalked it up to all the movies and books she had been exposed to, and with her lack of reality of the rest of the world, and knowing how many things were real that many people no longer believed in. Her strong imagination did the rest of the work.

"Uh, well... your mother did grow up in the human world, and you're in the spirits' world," he carefully explained, afraid to say anything else to her without Morgan's consent. He put an arm around Wendy's small shoulders, and gasped at the sudden touch of ice before she eased into it. She was used to her father's cold fingers. "And you're the only child who has been raised in this kind of environment before."

"Which is the reason I am the only one..." she groaned. "It's stupid, Dad. I mean, why am I the only Guardian child? Is it really that rare for Guardians.. or spirits to fall in love? Why is it so rare?"

"In due time, Wendy, but this about you and what you did. Your mother is stressed and I know she gets on your nerves but she's trying."

"No she isn't. She wants me to be miserable and lonely forever. I just want to have some friends. I understand not a lot of people believe in this stuff, but I can show them right? I mean people can still see me. Why is that? Why can people see me? When I went to the movies with Elizabeth and Nathan the guy with the tickets could see me. I thought spirits were never seen by humans."

"Your behavior... is it because your lonely?"

"Yes. And I don't understand, Mom has a friend who's human. Maybe it's a coming of age thing, like in that book with the Hunters and their power, and they didn't get their powers til they were eighteen-!"

"Sweetheart, I am trying to have a conversation with you." Wendy nodded and shamefully looked at her folded hands in her lap, allowing him to continue. "The whole point of hiding Christmas gifts is so that you are surprised when receive them."

"What if I don't to be surprised?" she pouted.

"Even if you don't, it's fun for us. And it's fun for North. We love the look on your face when you realize you were finally getting something you had always wanted. It makes us really happy to see that." Wendy brightened, kicking her legs enthusiastically. Jack ran his knuckles down her spine and she giggled at the touch. "Despite that, no matter what, you still snuck into the workshop, without permission, and when North was gone. We call that trespassing, and it's illegal."

"Even though there are no police up here?" she asked innocently, and Jack was about to offer a very persuasive argument, until it occurred to him what she had just said. He closed his mouth and then frowned, finding himself ill equipped with words to give her a decent response. His eyes searched her room, like the answer would pop up magically, and then he spied the empty eggshell, it's contents drained so it's shell could sit in a room. From when she was six and they had taken her to the Warren for the day and she had asked to keep the egg after having painted it.

"I could tell Bunny," he threatened with the curvature of his eyebrows. Wendy swallowed.

"Please don't tell Bunny!" she begged, gripping his arm. He chuckled and patted her head.

"Okay, okay," he said slowly. "But you still don't get off Scot free." Wendy sighed. "You're cleaning ALL the bathrooms this weekend and taking out ALL the trash next trash day."

"That's disgusting!"

"So is breaking into North's workshop without his permission," Jack reminded kindly.

"But I... I don't know how to clean the bathrooms!"

"Good time to learn. When we go search for Pitch again, we'll leave you instructions." Her head fell and she analyzed the edges of her covered toes with feigned interest. Jack watched his daughter's eyes fall and the ice crust around his heart broke so the frozen shards jabbed him mercilessly. With his forefinger he lifted her chin and forced her to look straight into his eyes, cold sapphire being wild sapphire. "Did you know that your mother and I were childhood sweethearts?"

"Ugh," she groaned, ripping her chin away from her father's hand. "I do not want to hear anymore of those stories! You and mom love each other, got it, okay, moving on-"

"No!" he laughed. "I am trying to tell you something to make you feel better! When your mom and I were younger, I would need to leave for a few days. Many times in fact, to go and stir up snowstorms or visit Grandma Helen, Uncle Jamie, and Aunt Sophie. And you know what I told her?"

"What?" Wendy whispered curiously.

"I have a special connection with the wind. It's how I travel. But if you really need me, you can also call out to the wind and I will hear. And I will always come running back for you, because even though fighting Pitch to protect the people on Earth, you come first. He's not going to keep me away from my daughter if she needs me."

"I can do that?!"

"Yes, Snowdrop," he chuckled. "You are always first. I promise that. And it's never going to change." Wendy scooted closer and put her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and then laughing at how his skin bit her lips.

"I love you, Daddy," she told him.

"I love you too, Wenders," he laughed, moving his fingers to tickle her around the waist. She cackled and squealed with the motions of his hands and then begged him to stop. That only encouraged him more and she was gasping for air between her shrieks and laughs. The door opened and Morgan walked in, smiling at the scene before her. She watched with fondness until Wendy was successful in escaping Jack and he collapsed off the bed, feet still hanging over the edge. "Ahhh, this is embarrassing. I wasn't bested by a nine year old. Nope, nope. I slipped, yeah, that's what it was."

"What did you slip on, ice?" Morgan teased.

"Just because I create ice doesn't mean I can't still slip on it!" Jack argued, but Morgan was not taking any of his excuses.

"I would believe it. He leaves tracks everywhere he goes. And then it melts and then half the time I have to clean it up. Hey, Dad, can that be my punishment?"

"No," Jack and Morgan chorused as she helped him back to his feet. Wendy pouted.

"He's worse than a dog..." Jack gave her a horrified expressions, and then turned his look into something of deep thought. He looked over at Morgan curiously, who was puzzled, trying to figure out what he was saying. Then she showed her teeth in her amusement and nodded.

"At least a dog responds when his name is called and doesn't talk back when you scold them," she added to the joke.

"I am not a dog."

"Oh? You say the word 'treat' or 'walk' or 'ball' or 'fetch' to a dog, their tail is wagging all over the place. I say one simple word to you and you're already heading for the bed-" Morgan looked down at Wendy, who was wearing an innocent grin and waiting for the punch line of a joke. She looked over at her husband who was challenging her to say something. "You get excited too."

"I don't get it," Wendy said,moving her ankles in circles.

"And you won't for twenty more years," Jack told her, throwing a blanket over her head so she squawked in amusement.

"Oh, be realistic," Morgan sighed.

"I didn't mean she wouldn't understand it til then. I just mean she won't _get _it."

"Like I said, be realistic. Ten years."

"No way in hell!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Wendy questioned.

"Kissing!" Morgan blurted instantly. "Yeah, I don't want you to kiss til you're nineteen. Yeah, that's it."

"Aw, you don't need to worry about that. I'm never kissing anyone!"

"That's my girl!" Jack said.

"Get in the shower, Wendy, and then get ready for bed."

"Do I have to?!" The young girl whined sadly.

"Yes." Slowly, the girl carried herself over to her chest of drawers. They were an odd curiosity. A standard dresser, simple and square shaped, ad old fashioned wood finished, but the drawers were designed to look like the tops of old suitcases, even the handles bore the same old brass similarities. In fact, nothing in her bedroom was really usual. Her bed, for example, was the most average thing about it. It was a black wire frame, both ends matching in the two curling ends meeting in the middle, one side larger than the other and conquering the smaller curl, while the four thing posters reached up like curling hands in a V, one side taller and more of a dramatic curl than the other. The bedspread was lime green with thin white zig zags across it. A simple black pillow was thrown on the bed while a white and magenta checkered one rested beside it. Her dresser of suitcases was across from it, for nightstands she had a barrel on either side of her bed. The barrels were painted, one with blue sky, clouds, and the sun, while the other was black with the moon, stars, and a couple of shooting stars painted on it. Her table lamps were translucent objects, curved like an incomplete arch and with spokes sharply turned out of it. They looked like curved structure of ice, the lamps glow giving them a gentle glow. In the corner was an egg shaped object, large and open with bright blue cushion pushed down in the inside, where Wendy was often seen resting. It's outside was colored in pinks and blues an greens – inspired by Bunny and his glimmering eggs, of course. Her bookshelf against the wall was somewhere between a triangle and a circle, spiraling against the wall and painted green and orange. In the spiral, books were aligned, held together bu the gravity. The center held a pillow, a little nook where Wendy could rest and read if she so desired. A thin, aluminum geometric tree snaked along the other wall, and that was was where she kept her music and films. Tucked into a corner was a set of shelves that held all of her odds and ends and strange curiosities, but the shelves were fit together, like the beginnings of a Tetris game. Finally, to pull the whole room together, a light in the shape of a yellow blossoming flower swung over the room, accented by the large rug on the floor that the design of the floor of a pool as the water above shifted and reflected light. The walls gave the room life, each one a different color with walls red, blue, yellow, and green.

Wendy grabbed some clothes and dragged her feet over the shower, reluctant to hop in.

"Morgan..." Jack started, and his wife crossed her arms, waiting for the next part. From the strained look on his face, she could tell the next part was going to be a long conversation. "We need to get her a dog." Her eyebrows went up with surprise.

"Okay," she began carefully. "This isn't going the direction I thought it would."

"A bird or a cat or something!" he expressed. "I mean, after what you said..." And Morgan's eyebrow went up again. Jack threw up his frost covered hands, creating a draft of icy hair that flipped up her soft nutmeg waves. "I'm not even going to start that argument again, but a dog might be best. You can train it to do all kinds of stuff, they're friendly and probably more fun than anything else." Morgan turned her head back to look to the bathroom door.

"You know our daughter. You can't just get something like a golden retriever or a beagle or shih tzu. You're going to have to get something a little different. And it has to be something that can handle cold temperatures. A Northern dog, something really hairy." Morgan picked up several pieces of Wendy's dirty clothes and gathered them in a blue basket in the corner. Jack's eyes widened with an appreciate softness.

"My darling angel, and here I thought you were cold-hearted," he teased while he received a look of smugness from her.

"You're confusing me with yourself," she taunted. "But it's an easy mistake. You are pretty sexy." Morgan lifted the basket with a groan of the weight and Jack caught her by the arm before she turned the corner. He dropped his lips to her cheek and the area he kissed blossomed red. She giggled and turned back around to him. "I'm going to throw these in and come back and... when Wendy gets out of the shower, I guess we tuck her in, kiss her good night, and go looking again."

"Do you want me to call the shop and let them know?" Morgan wrinkled her lips with reluctance and then sighed, agreeing to it. Jack dropped his chin to look over at the disorganized frames that held snapshots of their time as a family. Wendy's third birthday where Jack froze the candles on accident and she thought it was the coolest thing ever. Five years old, fallen asleep in Morgan's lap. Jack after crashing the sleigh into a snow bank when he borrowed it without permission and Wendy made snow angels. She was two. Marker all over her face at sixteen months when she had drawn on the wall and Jack was kissing her cheek. The weight dropped from his chest and into his stomach and there was a push of nausea.

"Pack the equipment..." he mumbled, dreading the sound of the water shutting off. "I'll tell North we'll be there in twenty."

"And Jack?" Morgan piped up from the hallway. "It's hurting me too."

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**So here we have the Guardian version of balancing family and work. I really have nothing that interesting to add I guess, except if you could send me something to lift my spirits, that would be great. Thanks. See you when I can.**


	3. Murdered Hope

**Today was better, thanks for your kind words. I'm going to the fair tomorrow with my roommate and I'm hoping that will lift my spirits up. It's been a while since I've just had a day of fun so I'm excited.**

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Tooth hopped back into the sleigh that had been carefully position on the roof of a house in Uzbekistan. North looked at her patiently and she held the cylindrical box. She frowned and then sighed.

"This is the five year old's first tooth. She still believes, which is why it was under her pillow but her brother is seven and... no. Their parents are arguing and screaming at each other, Their neighbor down the street, I could hear yelling drunkenly at his wife who was trying to leave. There were two kids beating up a smaller kid. Pitch's presence is incredibly strong here."

"Ya think he's here?" Bunny asked, holding one of his boomerangs and twirling it over his head.

"Or close by. These are people acting out of anger, they haven't yet reached the feeling of hopelessness and depression that we saw in Belarus," she added. North nodded and began to take the authoritative roles and recited their instructions.

"All right! Sandy, you spread good dreams everywhere." The stout golden man saluted and rose out of the sleigh, floating up above them on his small cloud. "Bunny, have you got small egg group?" Bunny smirked, his fur twitching as he rose his orange burlap bag and shook his head. "Good! You find fighting kids and get them to stop, and let those eggs walk around neighborhood! Tooth, you and fairies stop by houses and remind the adults of childhood."

"Aye aye! Come on girls!" she called and buzzed through the air with her select emerald and blue hummingbird fairies darting around her.

"Jack, you are on Pitch patrol! Keep an eye on the skies for any movements that may be like him or where bad things seem worst. Morgan, you find the children who are the worst and ignite imagining! Make them forget bad things!"

"Wait, you're splitting us up?" Jack asked as the others headed off for their destinations. "We've always worked together. Fun and Imagination. They go together."

"Ah, yes, but half time when we regroup, you are having fight. Other half, you two look very happy, like last week and Bunny said you saw you two walking out from behind bush, laughing and smiling." Morgan sucked in the red color in her cheeks and Jack looked for something to focus on so he could avoid North's look. The jolly man frowned and watched the other two Guardians with worry. "Jack, Morgan. I know you two come out here and anything going on at home is still weight on shoulders. Between job and child, you do not get much alone time nor do you get chance to sort things out, but we cannot be distracted right now. Whole world is in danger. Maybe later we can figure out so you don't come out on every mission and get some time at home and together, okay? This is problem with Guardians being married. Always on job, so always together. Now, I turn my back, and you can hug and kiss before you leave?" North smiled, his cheeks rounding with his kindness and he did as he said, turning his back.

"Be careful," Morgan whispered. "I'm not there to watch your back."

"I'll be okay," he said, sliding the back of his hand down her face, a sliver of frost leaving its mark on her. She smiled at the sensation and leaned into the cold. "I'm worried about you though. If he's here..."

"I'm not going to let the slime ball do that to me again," she reminded Jack entwined his arms around her and the collision of their warm and cold bodies created a tingling vibrations between them. Jack crushed her lips with his passionate mouth and Morgan hung onto to him, never desiring to let go, but he understood their priorities and he released her before darting off. Morgan galloped in the other direction, searching for a child with the soul of zombie to reawaken.

Jack perched atop the tree, watching the area for a trace of the Nightmares and Pitch's influence. In the darkness, much of the world was asleep and only a few houses were actually lit. The ones that were lit had something with a story behind it happening. In one house, a middle aged woman was in tears. Jack ignored, with difficulty, the pull in his heart. The sound she was creating, the sobs were exact echoes of the way his heart strained when he thought Morgan was gone for good. She must have lost a lover, and it was hard to know if it was recent or not. A child in the night cried out for their father and it was harder still to ignore the gutting inside him. He turned to the sound of glass breaking and discovered a window had not been broken, but something had just been thrown against the wall. Against his better judgment, he kept on moving. Pitch was the cause for this misfortune and if he could be stopped, they could bring back the belief, faith, hope, and joy to everyone of the world, and not just children.

There was a house he could not ignore the cries from. He jumped down and gazed through the windows. He ignored the voice in his head about returning to his post and instead just walked right in. A man was yelling in Uzbek, his wife in tears but shouting loudly at him. From the other room, a boy around the age of five was watching through the slots in the staircase. A girl, around two, was holding his hand and crying. He kept a hand over her mouth while tears leaked down her face. Then, Jack watched in horror as the man pulled out a pistol, no bigger than his own hand and fired at the woman. The boy yelled out and the girl cried, her brother shielding her face. The man charged from the room and glared at the two kids. Them, his eyes softened. He walked right up the steps, past his children and into an empty room, shutting the door. Jack covered his ears so he wouldn't hear the second gunshot.

Morgan made her way into a house where a weeping girl sat on the floor, holding a stuffed plush doll who's head had come off and the stuffing was dropping out of its neck. She stepped closer and then analyzed the girl. She was wearing just a t-shirt, long enough to reach her knees, but it still showed her lower legs and her forearms were very clearly seen, and she had bruises and marks all over her in nearly every color imaginable; proof that she had been getting hurt severely for a long period of time now. Morgan crouched below her, and the girl could not see her. She didn't believe in her. Her heart collapsed in on itself when she saw the marks all over her. How was imagination supposed to make this better? Imagination could not make the bruises go away, and it could not stop her parents from hitting her. What was North even talking about when he suggested she take on this role.

"Hey," Morgan whispered, but she made no movement. She couldn't see her. Morgan didn't have a lot of believers, so she assumed that maybe this child didn't know who she was. She stood up and held out her Hosta plant before spinning around in a circle and dropping dew across the floor. The girl twitched and looked at the wetness before glancing up at the ceiling. She sighed and then got back into bed, but not before she took a glance at the closet. So he had been here before, and probably recently. Morgan looked back at the bruises, thinking how Jack could at least come and used his own hands to ice her wounds. He did that every time Wendy hurt herself. What good was she? She listened to the girl mutter something in Uzbek, similar to what a prayer was to sound like, but Morgan had very little experience with this region so it was hard to know what she was saying or even what god she was praying to. Unlike the Yetis, whom she could understand because they were closer to spirits than any other creature was, she had to have training, and she had only been a Guardian for ten years. Jack often served as a translator for languages she didn't know, but he wasn't there. Working away from him was proving to be inconvenient.

Morgan picked up the canteen hanging at her hip and used it to toss a spread of water across the room in front of her, before using a smaller bell on the hosta to blast an array of hot area. The room thickened with the white cloud of mist and the young girl looked around, confused by it. Her eyes popped and then she shook her head and sniffled. She closed her eyes and dropped her head on the pillow. She stomped her foot against the hardwood floor and bolted out of the window, closing it behind her. This was impossible. The children refused to follow their imagination anymore. With every mission they took to find Pitch, she was discovering that more and more. Because they no longer took stock in the things they believed and wouldn't let their minds create a real world for them, she could not get them to see her. She could not work with their imagination to bring back some peace and joy in their lives. And it was never going to happen by herself.

The little girl continued to wail while the brother tried to remain strong, but water was leaking from his eyes, and he was silently choking on sadness. Jack dropped in front of the two kids and while he received no reaction from the boy, the little girl gasped.

"Jack!" she muttered.

"Who is Jack?" wept the boy, in Uzbek, Jack understood.

"Jack Frost! He's here." Answered the girl, also in Uzbek.

"Jack Frost doesn't exist here, it's only pretend," he told his sister.

"No, he's right there, see?" Jack placed a hand on his shoulder and the boy yelped at the unexpected cold touch.

"That's really cold!" he screamed, and when the boy turned back, his mouth opened at the side of icy sapphires looking at him. "Jack Frost?"

"Yes," he answered, responding in Uzbek. "I'm going to get you out of here."

"Mom... Dad he..."

"I was here," Jack answered, moisture freezing to outer edge of his eyes, but he could not let the kids see him cry. "Is there someone you can go to? Someone you would like to stay with?"

"Uncle Sayyid and Aunt Raya," said the little girl.

"Where are they?"

"Bukhara," answered the boy quickly. Jack nodded and propped the boy onto his back, who still sniffled and wiped his eyes.

"I'll take you to their place. You tell them what happened, okay?" The little girl crawled into Jack's arms. She shivered when he held her close, but continued on sobbing for her parents.

"There was a man... he was dressed in black and... he scared me." Jack nodded.

"We're working on it, we know who he is. We'll find him, I promise. And when we do, everything will get much better. Don't lose hope." Jack jumped up into the sky, a firm hold on both of the children.

She kept on running through the streets, a dog barked aggressively at her as she passed. A scream could be heard in the distance and she stopped to listen, having to push away that maternal instinct in her. These missions were the only thing that reminded her of the reality of the world. Their constant visits to Pennsylvania and all the connections they had made it the most hopeful place on earth, the place with the most belief, and that made it the happiest place in all of the world. Even Disneyland couldn't have that title anymore. Except for the missions to locate Pitch, Morgan never actually stopped to check in on the lives of people in general. In the summer, she moved through the globe and did what she was to do, and then she moved on. Even so, never in her whole life was she experiencing anything as bad as what was happening right then and there. Pitch had been here a long time and his grip on the people was intense. He had reached into their cores and pulled out the most ugly of miseries and it was starting to show. They needed to catch Pitch, and he needed to be caught now.

"Bunny!" Morgan gasped as the oversized rabbit cruised across the street in front of her.

"Blimey, Morgan, what the bloody hell are you doing?!" he bellowed with surprise.

"I was trying to find Jack!"

"He's monitoring the place for Pitch, what ya need him for?"

"How am I supposed to bring back the imagination of these kids when I still have few believers as it is? And how is imagination supposed to save them?! Helping them to create fantasies to escape the real world only makes them blind to what is happening?! What happens when reality is greater than your imagination, when it's unhealthy to keep your head in the clouds?!" Bunny's scowl dissipated when he observed her distress and he placed a furry palm on her back.

"Morgan, you're a young Guardian. Ya still need to figure some things out."

"You have no idea what I just saw!"

"I just passed by a family discovering their teenage daughter hanged herself," Bunny told her casually, and the comment made everything in Morgan pop simultaneously. Her brain erupted and the truth of everything – not imagination, but the realistic world they were being presented with – cleared up to her. This was what Pitch had brought. This sort of terror, and it was happening all over the world. Lost in her niche of dropping dew on the ground, creating humidity and mist, she only paid regular visits to Pennsylvania when she wasn't at home. This is what happened and she was blind to her. She had not seen the facts or the truth. Blinded by her own imagination and fantasy, she missed it.

"Is this what I'm supposed to do?" she whispered, a cry hanging in her voice. "Is this what is expected of me? To fight against all of this, prevent all of this? With imagination? Keep Pitch from doing this?" Bunny frowned. "I can't. Bunny, this is too much. I can't do this. I can't be a Guardian."

"Yeah, Jack said the same thing thirty years ago, and we didn't believe him either," he said and tapped Morgan's shoulder encouragingly. "I know it's rough, mate. But that's why we're needed. We need to save these kids. Now what did ya see?"

"I saw-"

"Morgan!" yelled out the desperate Jack as he scampered down to her from the winds. She looked to him and noticed the lines of worry stretched across his face, his eyes reflecting a tired horror. Her fingers stroked the front of his sweatshirt, scraping away the bits of frost and her warmth melting it quickly away. Jack wrapped his arms around her, locking his fingers around her back and Morgan could feel the tension in his muscles and how firmly he was clinging to her.

"Yer supposed to be watching for Pitch!" Bunny shouted.

"Go get hardboiled, Bunny," Jack barked with a roll of his eyes. The warrior bunny dropped his jaw, looking at the winter spirit with shock at his words. "Morgan, I just watched a guy shoot his wife and then he went upstairs and shot himself while his kids were there."

"What?!"

"I took the kids to their aunt and uncle's."

"They believe?"

"The girl did, but the boy didn't. I convinced him, but even so..."

"Bunny watched a girl hang herself and I tried to get the attention of a girl who was black and blue from beatings, but she didn't see me."

"The heart of the problem is the parents here," Bunny explained. "How do you think Tooth is getting along?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her." Bunnymund grimaced and beat his palm with the end of his boomerang, thinking hard. He paced up and down the street and Morgan looked nervously up at the car that was speeding down the street, and swerving while going ridiculously fast. The driver definitely must have been drunk.

"Pitch is definitely here, I can sense it," said Jack.

"This has gotten... much farther out of hand than any of us could possibly imagine. We're gonna need to regroup and try to come up with a plan. But we can't do it right now. We've all been running around. We're exhausted. We're emotionally unstable. We need to take care of this when we know what we're up against and our bearings are in order. I'll go and find Tooth, and we'll see if Sandy made any progress with the dreams, and we'll meet up with North."

"What do you want us to do?" Morgan wondered, but her voice was cracking through her stress and fear. She struggled to keep it back, concerned about Pitch finding her fear but it was too much for her to keep under control. Even when she had Nightmares in the War on Dreams when she was nine, she couldn't believe the fighting was anywhere near as bad it was now. Her emotions were ripping her apart from the sides and scratching at the crevice in her. Any moment, she was certain she would begin to cough up blood from the pain erupting in her. Jack's body against her was keeping it from gushing out of her.

"Go home," Bunny ordered sternly.

"But-" Jack attempted to say.

"What we're up against does not change the fact ya have a little girl ya need to be there for. She needs you just as much as we do. And you have your other kids coming up soon, Morgan. Take a few days, spend time with them. Give yourselves a week."

"North's going to-"

"I'll deal with North," he promised. "The fighting has been here for ten years and we've gotten nowhere. We can handle a week without you. That and... I don't think Morgan has truly prepared herself for this kinda thing. She's still an ankle biter of a Guardian." When Jack looked to his wife, he saw she was nearly as white as him. Upon a closer look, he decided Bunny was probably right and was secretly thankful for Bunny giving him a reprieve for a week. He hadn't really gotten proper time with anyone; his friends, his family, Morgan's family (whom he considered his), or spent time with really any child. He nodded and instructed Morgan to hang onto him. She practically squeezed every ounce of life from him with how much she was holding onto him. Morgan shut her eyes, hoping her imagination could wipe away everything she had been seen, told, and heard.

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**See you guys tomorrow, internet permitting. It's supposed to get fixed tomorrow but we'll see. See ya my rosettes!**


	4. Reunion Collision

**So this is just a chapter for fun. Hope you like it! And I had fun at the fair today! Went onto too many spinny rides though. Had trouble walking... But it was a fun day that was needed :)**

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"She's still asleep," Jack informed when they returned home, entering the master bedroom. It was still the early hours of morning, but with summer drawing at an end in the North Pole, sunlight still arrived early. Morgan had her knees propped up under the spread, arms resting against the tops of her legs. "Gary said she was pretty quiet all night. Turned up her music and turned it off before bed." Morgan looked down at her hands, wringing them together anxiously. He sighed and nudged himself under the covers, running his fingertips across her back and gripping her waist.

"I just can't believe... even Pitch. I thought he would at least have some decency to-"

"You seriously can't have this same naïve idea that deep down he's a good guy?" Jack questioned.

"Would he really push someone to become so depressed that they kill themselves? I can't see that, Jack. I really can't..." she moaned and rested against his chest. He shifted further under the blanket so the couple was laying down on the bed, and cradled each other.

"And yet you saw it." Morgan swallowed.

"It was horrible, Jack. How can we fight this? I mean it's been bad before but this... this is just... terrible."

"Morgan, I think you keep underestimating yourself. We have the power to fight him. We can do this! We just need to utilize the abilities the Man in the Moon gave us."

"How Jack? How is a couple of water drops and mist and acting on imagination going to save the lives of a billions of people?!" she exclaimed as Jack shifted his arms around her so his hold was closer against her skin. The cool touch of ice relaxed her tense muscles and she relaxed in his arms. "This is different than anything else. We have to save to world and be parents at the same time. How is it-"

"We'll do it," he answered casually. "You'll see, Morgs. We'll use this reprieve to catch up with Wendy, and spend the nights we normally would spend out searching for Pitch trying to come with strategizing."

"Yeah, strategy. That never works with you," Morgan taunted playfully. Jack raised an eyebrow with challenge. "Charge and attack is how you do things."

"Has it failed?!"

"Several times!" Morgan laughed, genuine glee ripping through her grin. He tousled her hair and brushed it aside from her face, smirking whimsically at how she looked in the morning light streaming past the open curtains. The sunlight cast a glow around her features and illuminating the beauty that already lined her face. Refusing to resist how she was making him feel in her pure appearance, he pulled her face down so their lips could meet. Morgan giggled childishly, turning her body into him and finding herself on top of him and took her opportunity to pin him against the bed. "Bunny did say we should get some time to ourselves as well."

"Which is great, because I have to say, I am sick of needing to steal time away with you under bushes and in the dirt," Jack recalled with painful memories. "Sticks, that's all I have to say about that."

"Uh, what about sharp rocks?" Morgan scoffed with an evil smile.

"That was not my fault!"

"I screamed!"

"I thought you screamed because I was just that good."

"Yes, that is exactly why I yelled 'THERE IS A HUGE ROCK IN MY BACK!'"

"I thought you meant something else."

"Forget it, I'm no longer in the mood." Morgan rolled off him and crossed her arms, her bottom loop protruding just the slightest bit.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe that. When you spend your whole life always telling the truth, it makes you into a really bad liar."

"I hate that you know me so well..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sleigh slowed in front of the house, the reindeer carefully turning their trots into leisurely walks. When it stopped, Charlee, Linda's youngest child, leapt over the edge of the sleigh and unleashed a cry of exultation, rolling in the snow and gathering it up in greedy amounts. The young girl, just a year older than Wendy, propped her head back up at the door being opened by the young man in his snow white hair, frosted blue sweatshirt, tan trousers, and his bare feet. She galloped and jumped to him, crushing him around his middle.

"Jack I'm so happy to see you!" she squeaked, her voice a little higher than the average young girl's. Her choppy black hair kept swinging in front of her face.

"You... too... Char..." Jack strained and then the little lady slid into the house to look for Wendy. Next out of the sleigh stepped Brad, his blonde hair cropped short and very faint lines beginning to show his age. A dark stubble formed around the edge of his chin, and the shadows below his eyes revealed the amount of sleep he received the night before.

"How's the baby?" Jack asked with a smugness at the look of his brother-in-law.

"I love him to pieces but I am so glad to be able to spend some time up here," he sighed with excitement that revealed more about his happiness than his comment. "You are so lucky you don't have to sleep. It was probably so easy with Wendy."

"Trust me, she exhausted us, and she still does," Jack joked.

"I heard that!" came her voice as she ran to greet her family and friends. Charlee was hanging on her arm excitedly, while Wendy looked a little less than pleased about her almost-cousin clinging to her. "Hi Uncle Brad! How's Uncle Max?!"

"He's doing fine!" Brad bent to pick up the girl and enveloped her in a back breaking embrace. She gasped and laughed at his hug before getting back to her feet where Charlee attempted to get her attention again. "He can spend a few days with Victor while I get to sleep in."

"Not on our watch!" yelled out Nathan as he clamored over the edge of the sleigh, nearly busting his glasses against the grown. Thomas cackled at Nathan's misfortune before he was tripped and fell in the snow. Both being fifteen and having grown up together, they were like best friends half the time and brothers the other half of the time.

"You two are completely obnoxious!" snarled Thomas' older sister, Mallory. With agile grace, she slipped out into the snow and pulled her pink fur collared coat around her neck. She walked with her head held high and greeted Jack with a warming hug.

"Mallory, when did you get so tall?" he asked, patting her head and realized with a shock that she was only about half a foot shorter than he was. She laughed musically, her black curls quivering with her voice.

"I was this tall when you saw me at Easter!"

"You were not!" he argued. "Also you're much prettier."

"Aww, you certainly know how to charm a lady!"

"Okay, weird!" bellowed a voice from the middle aged Chinese girl rolling out from the sleigh. "Mallory, his wife is my best friend! You're seventeen years old. You cannot be flirting with him. That's my job!"

"Uh, mom, technically he's fifteen forever. Making me the older one, so what does it matter?" Jack held up his left hand to show the ring on his finger. Mallory rolled her eyes. "Never stopped mom."

"I know..." Jack moaned before he accepted a hug from Linda. "Don't worry, Linda, you're the only girl for me who isn't my wife."

"You say the sweetest things, I could just take you right here and now-" Linda began with a sultry turn of her lined and shadowed eyes.

"Mom that's gross!" Cecil shouted beside her and then quickly took a hug from Jack, a little embarrassed to be hugging him and looking around to make sure no one would make fun of him.

"I was going to say out to dinner!" Linda censored quickly with a sheepish smiled.

"No you weren't. You were going to say something about sex. And you're married, and so is Jack, to your best friend. That's triple weird."

"When did you learn what sex was?!"

"Ask Thomas!"

"I'm staying out of this one," Jack responded quickly, edging away from the situation that was beginning to form in the house. "And tell Thomas and Cecil to not talk to Wendy for the entire time! I don't want to deal with that for another ten years!"

"Jack!" squealed Elizabeth brightly, moving so swiftly he had not even seen her get out of the sleigh. He hissed with surprise, always alarmed when she showed her face around him. At twelve years old now, nearly thirteen, she was blossoming into a young lady and with the exception of her nose and chin, she looked nearly identical to how her mother looked at that age. He always thought for just a second, that he was looking at young Morgan once again whenever he saw her. However, her fashion these days consisted of baggy t-shirts, ripped jeans, and comfy sweatshirts. And she liked her hair to be kept short at her chin. Despite how worlds different she liked to change her appearance from her mother's, she could not wipe away the resemblance.

"Bess!" he exclaimed with the same enthusiasm she shared.

"I'm so happy to see you again!" she jumped and swung herself around his neck, kissing his cheek. Jack laughed and struggled to pry her away from him before settling her down in the snow.

"Go join the others, okay? We'll have dinner in a bit..." Elizabeth nodded and bounded into the house. Jack looked over at the sleigh, which Morgan had driven to Harrisburg to pick everyone up. Jamie Bennett, with shaggy brown hair and a brown stubble that showed his age of thirty-seven was helping Sophie out of the vehicle. Her blonde hair was tied back to show the laugh lines around her eyes. Still young, but the stresses of motherhood had left their mark in the thin wrinkles. Jamie shook Jack's hand when he greeted him at the door and Sophie took a quick peck on the cheek.

"Your mother isn't coming?" he asked his family members with hurt hope. The two of them exchanged disheartened looks.

"She's not so sure if she can really make the trip up here anymore," Jamie told him. "Her back's acting up and she's struggling a little to get around. I mean not too much, but she's not so sure about the cold. Every year, the winter gets harder for her. Coming up here would be the strain of cold and travel together."

"But she wants you to stop by, when you can. She misses you. Oh, and," Sophie kissed the top of Jack's head. "That's from her." He grinned, trying to hide the worrisome doubt that was running through his mind. He struggled to make time with his own daughter and wife, how was he going to get down to seeing someone who was practically his mother.

"I'll put it in my calender," he said carefully and begged them to go on inside. Another look to the sleigh and he saw the last of the passengers offering a hand to help Morgan out of the vehicle. She accepted Hamilton's hand who swung her feet over the edge. Jack rolled his eyes, pushing down the urgency of jealousy and ignored it's biting need. Morgan immediately dropped her hand from Hamilton and kept her palms behind her back and her pace at a comfortable distance, to Jack's delight.

"So glad you could come!" he told Morgan's old husband, trying really hard to make it as genuine as possible. He liked Hamilton a lot, but it bugged him how much of a gentleman he was to Morgan and how she still seemed to shine when he was around. He understood it was harmless and it wasn't like any of them actually tried anything, but there was still a small flame between them that was closed off by the trials of Guardian and human relationships. Neither one of them had ever wanted what became of them. He knew Morgan was devoted to him and crazy about him (she proved it quite a bit) but he could never truly fight back the gnawing sensation he got when he acted that way around the woman he was married to.

"I am too. It's been a while. I know last time the kids came up, I couldn't make it, with work," Hamilton explained to him.

"Weren't you on a major dig that weekend?" Morgan piped up from behind him. Hamilton sighed with disappointment.

"We thought it was a major dig, but it turned out to be nothing but some old pottery from the 1820s, rather than the missing artifacts we thought they were," he explained.

"Still, that's pretty neat!" Morgan conversed warmly, eyes lighting up at the mention of archaeological digs. "Hey, go on in, I need to discuss something with Jack." Morgan rounded Hamilton and looped her hands through Jack's arm. He loosened his muscles under the tingle of her heat, softening to the reassurance of her touch on him. Hamilton nodded to them before joining the rest of the noise and exuberance in the house. The frost spirit turned his attention to Morgan's eyes of twisted concern and he frowned slightly at the look she was giving him. "You're sure you're okay with Hamilton being here?"

"Yes!" Jack laughed, snatching his arm around her shoulders. "You ask me that every time, Snow Angel. And you asked me four times before you brought him here. He's a good friend of yours... I mean, I guess, what else do you call a guy who you were married to and then died so your marriage was forcibly terminated but still are on really good terms with and care about but you can't do anything with because you love me and are married to me and only me?" Morgan raised and eyebrow with amusement and Jack chuckled at her reaction. "I'm kidding."

"I know," she cooed. "And it makes you very cute." She brushed her lips to his cheek and sashayed into the house, giving Jack that little itch he felt when she did something he found more than just simply attractive. He whistled so the reindeer began to canter and lift, flying back in the direction of the workshop. With everyone around, he shut the door behind him and looked at all the people suddenly inside his house. He groaned and held onto a hope that this reunion would go smoothly and without incident. But of course, there was no possibility of that occurring.

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**Back at work tomorrow *sigh* five days off work, I was spoiled. See you later my rosettes!**


	5. Spontaneous Combustion

**Hello drama! This is a nail biter of a chapter and I have to say... I enjoyed writing it, as horrible as that sounds. Can't wait to see your reactions to it! :)**

**Also, while I am here, I am going to promo an RP site. There's this AWESOME ROTG Roleplaying site, and it's a lot of fun. You have to choose a character and apply it before you play, and while most ROTG characters are already picked, you can be ANYONE. Literally, anyone, character or OC. I play Elizabeth Barry on it (because I like using my original characters. I'm afraid of messing up another character.) so join! It's Guardians Arising on jcink! Check it out!**

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The entire group had gathered around the dinner table once they were all settled, and it started as all reunions do; exchanging old memories and embarrassing stories which ensured much laughter from the crowd. Some recent news was passed around the table along with potatoes, carrots, corn, ham, chicken, and various other dishes Morgan and Wendy had slaved over. And Jack helped when frostbite was not endangering the food. Smiles were seen all around and Wendy was even enjoying her time with her almost-cousins and family around her.

"And I made this huge sandcastle on the playground at recess!" Charlee finished excitably, Wendy's eyes glazed with the wonder of her words. Anything to do with the mortal world fascinated her and she was loving the stories her friend was telling her. By fat happiness filling her cheeks, it was clear Charlee was enjoying the attention too. "And then we had to go inside after that, and it rained and my castle collapsed. Oh, and mom made me bring my homework too. It's due when we get back. Maybe you could help me? I thought, even though I'm a year older than you, aren't you like, super smart in your studies?"

"Yeah..." Wendy whimpered with little pride. "It's all I ever do. Reading, watching TV, going on the computer... it gets boring so I do my homework. Plus mom and dad say I'm really good and going through stuff awesomely fast. Except history. I don't think I pick up on history as fast as mom wants me to."

"I'm horrible with history," said Charlee. "But you read a lot, right? Maybe you can help me with my English homework! I have to do a book report-"

"What's a book report?" Wendy wanted to know, kicking her legs enthusiastically.

"Uh, well... we read a book and then we need to stand up in front of the class and talk about it."

"Why?"

"So they know you read it."

"Can't the teacher just give you quizzes? That's what mom does. She gives me twenty questions. I usually ace it. I love books." Charlee blinked, her expressions void of words. "But talking about books sounds fun! I would like to do that some time!"

"It's boring is what it is... I hate talking about books."

"What else does your school do?"

"Well... we're given timed tests to do long division. We're just learning that right now."

"Oh I can do long division! Uncle Brad helped to teach me not long ago."

"But... long division isn't until fourth grade..."

"But I can do it! What about science?"

"Well, we've been sorted into groups-"

"Why?" Wendy interrupted and once again Charlee looked flabbergasted as to why that would even be a necessary question.

"So we can work together."

"But what does that do?"

"Um... well we're all smart in different ways, I guess. And working together makes us really smart, and we learn from each other. Plus it's a big project so we need lots of help. We're learning about electricity right now, and our group is making a battery out of a potato!"

"How do you make a battery out of a potato?!" Wendy looked questioningly at the food on her plate, wondering how a product could made from the exact food she was shoveling into her mouth.

"Well, you need wires and coins..."

"Touch my food again, you twerp, and I will cut you hand off!" Mallory screamed through the gentle chatter. Thomas quickly pulled his hand away, but not before he yanked a piece of chicken from her plate. "Ugh, you are so annoying! Do you know how much trouble you're in right now?!"

"Mallory!" Linda called out.

"But he started it!"

"I'm finishing it!"

"He's touching my food with his disgusting hands. You know he doesn't wash before dinner. Have you any idea what he could have been doing before dinner? He's a fifteen year old boy with no girlfriend-"

"Gee, thanks for the reminder," Thomas scoffed and rolled his eyes. "And hey! What are you saying?!"

"How about we be quiet about that, there are children at this table!" Sophie barked through it all, even though she was not a mother to any of the kids around the table and had no authority in saying what they should and should not do. Of course, no one listened to her.

"Mallory, you're seventeen, you can be a mature adult," Morgan calmly said with her fork propped in the air. "Sit down, please."

"He does this every time, it's like he doesn't get enough or something."

"Growing boy!" Thomas voiced proudly as he padded his stomach, which had a subtle rippling of toned muscles underneath it. Mallory scoffed at how proud he was of his athletic build. "Hey, this doesn't happen by accident. I need the energy!"

"I'll tell you what you need-"

"Mallory!" Jack shouted, rising from the end of the table and beating his fist against the surface. "Sit down and eat! You're not in your house, you're in mine. And in my house, you obey both the rules of your mother and me! You're seventeen, not seven, now act like it! Or else I will not hesitate to freeze your food to the table and I will enforce any punishment your mother sees fit!" Linda grinned happily and looked up at her distressed daughter, who dropped down into her chair chewed quietly. "And Thomas... seriously, keep your hands on your own food. That's disgusting." The anger from the depths of Jack's eyes faded when he attempted to smile again. Morgan bowed her head and placed her hands against the back of her hair, moving her head with aggravation. "Never fails, does it? Every time we get together like this, someone has to make some sort of comment and an argument starts."

"And then you have to go and whip out bad guy Jack... which by the way, why does Bad Guy Jack rarely turn up when Wendy does something? Why is Bad Guy Morgan more present in this house?" She looked questioningly at her husband who flashed his pearly whites sheepishly at her.

"Have you seen our sweet daughter's face? How can I get angry at that?"

"Ugh, you're annoying."

"You're stubborn." Morgan hunched her shoulders and gave a shrug, refusing to deny his claim and then she giggled lightly, reaching her hand under the table to massage his knee affectionately. "Bess, honey, how did that research paper go before the end of school?"

"Erm..." Elizabeth swallowed her food quickly and daintily patted her lips with a napkin. "Really good! My teacher said I put thorough work into the lives of lions. She said I actually put in too much information and went over, which made it drag along, but I enjoyed it. I got an A minus."

"Research paper...?" Wendy wondered quietly where she sat at the table.

"Better to have too much information than not enough," Jack grinned and gave her a small wink. "Good job on it, dear! I know your letters made it sound like it was really stressful."

"Sorry, it's been hard to ask about it lately. I know that was a few months ago you finished it," Morgan apologized. Elizabeth sighed but offered an understanding smile her mother and step dad.

"I know things have been... tough lately with Pitch around."

"How's that been going, anyway?" Jamie asked, and forks and spoons clattered against the plates. With his innocent questions, all six conversations that had been happening ceased and eyes had turned to Morgan and Jack, expecting some good news. Morgan's nostrils flared with her anxiety building up. She glanced to Jack for some sort of direction. He placed both hands on the table and cracked his knuckles, as if preparing for some fight.

"Things aren't exactly... the best. It seems that Pennsylvania is probably the... happiest and most hopeful place in the world right now, with how many connections we have there and how many people believe in us," Jack explained carefully. "Crime is... high in other places and... other... tragic things that are... too hard to say out loud and too much for the young kids to hear right now."

"Like what?!" Charlee wanted to know, as if it were some exciting news and her curiosity was bulging too much for her to contain.

"I don't think it's good table talk..." Jack muttered, and then he tried to change the subject. "Nathan what game were you playing the last time we talked. As I recall, you were getting pretty good at it and had a pretty high score on it. It was one of those online role playing games right?"

"Ah, no. He actually isn't allowed to play that anymore for six more months," Hamilton interrupted, his jaw setting seriously and a scowl wrinkling his forehead. Morgan parted his lips, making an effort to speak but was too horrified with every possibility of what he could have done that was so bad to warrant six months without laying his favorite online game. When she gave him the curious look, Hamilton just shook his head and leaned over to whisper. "I'll talk to you about it later."

"He was drunk and had a girl in his room at two in the morning," Elizabeth plainly informed, sipping her milk innocently.

"YOU WHAT?!" Morgan shrieked, her horror flinging her up out of her seat and shaking the table with her fists banging into the top of it. Hamilton ad Jack, who were sitting on either side of her, both stole back when she reacted, looking on with genuine terror about what she was about to do.

"We didn't do anything..." Nathan moaned, settling his voice to calm to make the situation less serious than it was.

"That isn't the point-"

"Morgan, I said after dinner..." Hamilton whispered between his clenched teeth. His fingers curled around her arm, but she jerked her arm away from him, refusing to calm down at this particular moment. "Look, I talked with him..."

"And I wasn't informed?!"

"You're kind of hard to get a hold of..."

"And you couldn't have sent a letter to Toothiana or the fairies to let me know?! Harrisburg is big, Hamilton, there's always a child with a tooth under their pillow. Someone is always nearby and willing to bring your letter to us!"

"This was face to face news..."

"So you couldn't have just written 'P.S. We need to talk about our son' in your last letter?!"

"You're busy with Pitch!"

"I always have time for my family!"

"Ha!" Wendy laughed, and then covered her mouth hurriedly. Several eyes, including Morgan's went to the child, but nothing was said.

"Can we be excused?" asked Thomas quickly. Linda and Jack both nodded and everyone scattered into various rooms, shutting doors behind them. The only people who remained at the table were Wendy, Elizabeth, Nathan, Hamilton, Morgan, and Jack.

"You little bitch," Nathan hissed to his sister across the table. Her silky brown eyes expanded at the sound of the vile word and Wendy yelped at the brashness of her brother.

"You do not call your sister that ever! Do it again and I'll take away another month of that game!" Hamilton barked at his son. He leaned across the table, staring into his threateningly. Nathan crossed his arms and reclined, appearing unaffected by his dad's daring looks. His aloofness only fueled the anger in Hamilton more and he marched around the table, gripping his son's shoulder and forcing him to turn and look at him. "Do you understand?!"

"Yes," grunted Nathan. "But you said to wait til after dinner, and she blurted it out."

"She's twelve!"

"Almost thirteen!" Elizabeth corrected.

"Doesn't mean she's a child! As far as I'm concerned, if she's old enough to bleed out every month-"

"Okay, just go, Bess. Just leave, now. You're not needed, go... talk clothes with Mallory or something," Jack begged when he noticed her twisted expression of pain. Her distorted look got even more disturbing when she turned to him and let her mouth fall open.

"Jack, I hate clothes! Did you forget that?!"

"Right, uh... go wrestle with Thomas or something." Elizabeth beamed and bounced out of the kitchen, moving much too quickly to be going at it casually.

"When were you going to tell me she got her period?!"

"It's not like it's a big deal, it happens to every girl."

"It's a pivotal moment in every girl's life and changes her completely!"

"Well, you were busy with looking for-"

"What happened?" Morgan interrupted with gentle tone, taking the sensible option to remain calm. Hamilton hid his annoyance at being interrupted, but the excuses of her always being out looking for Pitch were numerous.

"One of Nathan's buddies' brothers had some beer and he was over there and they got a hold of them. He was supposed to be home by ten, and he was, but he ran to his room quickly," Hamilton explained in a smooth manner. "Next thing I know, I'm waking up at two in the morning and I walk into Nathan's room and there's a girl, also drunk, shirt half falling off and laughing and leaning over Nathan and it looked like I interrupted them mid kiss."

"That's all it was, we were kissing."

"Who was she?" Morgan asked with a sense of cool that surprised herself. Jack watched her admirably, impressed to see her so sensibly handling the situation.

"Just a friend's sister!"

"_Just_ a frien- who?"

"Wils. It was Wils' sister." The boy was starting to break down and confessions were spiraling out of him. His face was washed white and his eyes did not leave his mother. He had experienced her anger before, and that was for mild things. At that moment, images of how she was going to discipline him were flashing through his mind, and he knew better than to lie to her. Lying only worsened punishments by ten times greater. The most comfortable punishment was going to happen by telling the truth.

"Wils... Wils... Wils Reiter?"

"Yes." Her face froze when she put everything together.

"Nathan... WILS' SISTER IS NINETEEN!" Wendy kept watching her mother scream and cry and turn redder than any tomato she had ever seen with her fiery madness. She was curious, a little confused as to what was happening. Jack sidled to his litter girl and put his arms around her.

"Hey, come one, let's go have a snowball fight or something."

"In a bit, maybe," said Wendy. "I want to know what's going on."

"You... _want_ to watch your mom yell at your brother."

"No, I want to understand. Nathan and Elizabeth live differently than I do. They get to live with humans."

"... broke the law in so many ways! A nineteen year old girl! A fifteen year old boy! Both of you, underage! Goddamn it, Nathan-"

"I know, Mom. Dad already gave me this whole speech. Next you're going to say, if I had gone any further, it would have been statutory rape and I could be in jail. I get it mom, I get it." Morgan sucked in air, her next words catching in her throat. Her raised finger was held above Nathan's head and she blinked in her shock. She turned to Hamilton who beamed and held up his hands.

"I can be a disciplinarian too. You always think I'm so weak, Morgsies." Jack watched him sideways, a little bothered by the way he said her name.

"What did he mean?" Wendy wondered, and Jack stiffened behind her.

"Just... don't worry about it, dear. It doesn't concern you."

"But-"

"Nathan's the one in trouble, not you."

"Well, regardless, I knew nothing about it, and as he is our son, I should have had say in his punishment," Morgan said. "I'll think of something else, but in the meantime, Nathan. You are going to clean up _everything_ and do all the dishes and dry them."

"But... fourteen people ate supper! And you always cook too much!" Nathan cried, as if she had just asked to have him whipped or something equivalent.

"Now, Nathan."

"Do what she says," Hamilton agreed with no reservations about what she was making him do.

"And Hamilton. I want to talk to you. _Alone_." She marched from the kitchen into the living room, waiting for him to follow. The man's chest heaved when he took in all her anger and aggression, preparing himself for the discussion they were going to have.

"Don't you just hate it when she does that?" he chuckled lightly with a look to Jack.

"Hey, you're not the one who gets it once a week," Jack tried joke and Wendy cracked a smile, knowing how true the joke was. Hamilton laughed and gestured to him, giving him a look of apologies before retreating from his chair and following the direction Morgan took. Jack could only make out the muffled tone of his wife, giving Hamilton a very stern and strict expression of the treatment she received in regards to Nathan's situation. Jack slouched in the chair, Wendy crawling into his lap. He sputtered as she curled up in his arms. He rubbed her back and she giggled, shuddering under his cold hands.

"Snowdrop," he started. "Why can't we have a nice, normal family dinner?"

"Because we would need to be normal then," Wendy smiled. "And we are really not normal."

"Oh my dear, you have no idea how true your statement is..."

* * *

**Oh, little funny story from work today. In my section, much of the gardening equipment is being cleared and the shelves are being used for storage so my manager has been putting up a wall to keep out customers. I looked at the wall and shouted at him "CAN I PUT AN EGG ON THERE NAMED HUMPTY DUMPTY AND WATCH HIM FALL?!" He looked at me, blinked, and then turned around. I saw his shoulder shaking with laughter. it was the highlight of my day. And then he said "Sure, we'll put a whole bunch," and I yelled "REALLY?" "No." I think he laughter even harder at my sadness. Then he said he didn't understand me. It was a fun moment and I thought I would share it. Things are exploding in this house right now. I'm so excited for you guys to find out what happens next. See you in the next chapter, my dears!**


	6. Walking on a Thin Wire

**So I just kept typing all day and... got a really long chapter! So here you go, long chapter for you all!**

* * *

In the center of the living room, Hamilton stood before Morgan. Despite how she had not aged in ten years, she still had those very thin lines her mortal motherhood gave her, and her worry and stress only deepened then so it was almost possible to believe she was in her thirties, but still too young looking to be what her real age would have been.

"Hamilton," she began sternly, eyes narrowed with her seriousness while Hamilton watched her with amused annoyance. A fire was coursing through Morgan in that moment, and it was flaming much more than she was letting on. A sort of betrayal pierced through her, thinking about how much she did not know about her kids and how much was probably left out.  
"Listen, I know things are rough right now, and it's... difficult for us to both raise our children when I'm a Guardian and you're a mortal. Far more difficult, I think, than a child of divorce could be raised. Maybe I'm wrong but... fighting against evil, trying to save the whole world from this hopelessness, while trying to be a parent up here, and to them... I know I'm busy but you could... at least... write. Tell me what is happening with my kids. Even if you don't think I'll get it in time."

"They miss you," Hamilton told her quietly. "Maybe that's why Nathan and Elizabeth get into so much trouble."

"Ehhh, I mean. Could be," Morgan answered with a roughness of emotion to her voice. His confession had broken something in her so she was pierced with the hardness of the truth. "You also need to recognize that Nathan is a teenager, and some things happen because he's in his rebellious years."

"But your absence makes it worse." Morgan shut her mouth, holding back the erupting pain. "And think about it. How many young kids do you know break into abandoned houses and get caught in construction zones simply because she wanted to play in them?"

"They were all abandoned, Elizabeth would never do that in a house someone lived in. And she was seven, Hamilton. She saw a dirt mound, and reacted."

"She ignored he signs and just jumped right in, and didn't care about the people who were screaming at her to get out!"

"She was a kid."

"Well, what's your excuse for me receiving a call that my daughter was at the police station for vandalism?!"

"That wasn't vandalism!" Morgan scoffed with exasperation, feeling tired of this old conversation they had three years ago. "Elizabeth got locked out of the house and went over to Mrs. Stein's to try and get the spare key when she wasn't home and knocked over a few plants. She blew it all out of proportion and misunderstood everything! Personally, I think she's a horrible house and babysitter."

"Okay, I can't say I disagree with you on any of those points," Hamilton laughed. "I still wish you were around more. I think our kids are trying to be mature about everything and not blame it on your because they know what you are doing is important... but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. You should spend more time with us. And none of this twice a year nonsense with everyone coming up here. As nice as it is to have everyone here, they need some one on one interaction. Come down for a weekend. Find a time when the Guardians can allow you to go."

"It's just so hard to... at any moment we could catch Pitch. At the same time... you have no idea the things I have seen, the things that have happened."

"The stories I hear from Nathan, ad Mallory, and Thomas? I think I have a general idea. That high school alone..." Hamilton's voice broke at the end of his sentence and Morgan read into it, knowing that even though Pennsylvania was probably the most hopeful, Pitch's influence still stretched across the area and some people could not fight against it. Her soul ripped in response to his feelings and she felt a push to hold onto him and never let go.

"I don't deny that I need to see the kids more," she admitted, turning to look at the snow storm blowing through outside. "But it's hard to know, and balance... Every day I think, what is my priority for the day? Seeking Pitch out to put a stop to his reign of terror and bring some hope and happiness to world and save people's lives, or spend some quality time with my family? It's a hard choice to make. Either one I choose, someone gets hurt. I guess sometimes I think, love is unconditional in families and they're always be there to welcome me back. But I forget that unconditional love does not always equate that I'm well liked and appreciated by my family either." Hamilton pursed his lips and took in her speech with some understanding. He carefully stepped to her and placed his hands on both of her shoulders She stiffened under his touch, finding his warm touch hot and burning uncomfortably against her skin. Morgan remained, but did not reciprocate.

"I get it," he said. "I can see how that would be a hard choice every day. But sometimes... once in a while... choose your family. And that doesn't just include us. I could see Wendy also looked a little neglected. She seems closer to Jack than she is to you."

"I do stay home with her. I thought I balanced my time pretty well. I fight when she's sleeping, and I take a nap for a couple of hours to regain my energy, and when she wakes, we spend a few hours going over her lessons and Jack and I work together to teach her. I feed her supper and Jack and I go back out to fight again."

"But how often do you spend real time with her when you're home? Time when you're not tutoring her?"

"Uh. Well, I think it's been... a while..." Morgan whispered with conviction. Hamilton moved one hand, massaging her shoulders and her muscles stiffened again under his touch. Once again, she did nothing to response to him. "There's an occasional day Jack decides we'll be fine without him and stays at home with Wendy. That's usually after she's been especially bad."

"See? He recognizes the need to stay home."

"No!" Morgan protested, ripping her body away from his gentle touch to her and pining him with the look in her eyes. She held his gaze firm while she spoke. "Those are our worst fights! His staff is incredibly powerful, and it has a stronger effect on Pitch than any of other weapons. We need him there!"

"And Wendy needs him too! And you do too!" Morgan stubbornly turned away and Hamilton reddened with his thoughts. "When was the last time you and Jack had sex?"

"I cannot believe you are asking me that question right now. And your former wife, at that!"

"I'm not trying to be perverted or anything, or trying to please myself or something..."

"Funny, because you won't stop touching your old wife who is a married woman." Hamilton wrung his hands and held them behind his back.

"Old habits die hard, I guess." Morgan scowled. "Look, I just want to get an idea of how often you two are actually intimate with each other, and how that's possibly affecting you."

"Jack and I usually take a few moments to sneak away in the middle of a mission about twice a week."

"A few minutes?" he laughed. "In the middle of something that concerns the lives of hundreds of others? One; that's probably not the best thing to do. Priorities, Morgs. Two, a few minutes? I happen to know from much experience with you, in order to be properly satisfied, you need _much_ more than that. You need more time than that to be aroused even. I mean properly, with a good couple of hours, and in the comfort or your own home or... wherever you happen to be that's comfortable, I guess."

"Just the other morning, thank you very much," Morgan hissed with the roll of her eyes.

"And before that?"

"That's personal."

"Morgan, you just told me you and Jack have a roll in the bushes twice a week. For crying out loud-"

"Three months ago, okay?!" Morgan screamed. "Yes, Pitch is taking over my life, my family, and my romance, but what can I do?! I have to do it! For the children of the earth, for the parents, for my family, for you! I can't balance all of this! But I wouldn't give it up for the world! I just wish I could be in two places at once..." Hamilton reached for her again she evaded him. "Please don't touch me, Hamilton. Not right now."

"I was just trying to give you a hug..."

"I know but..." she sighed. "To you it's more than a hug. And I know you can't help that either, but I'm married and..."

"I know," he agreed, pulling his arms away. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you and Jack. He's a good friend and you're... wonderful. As always."

"I would say I wish it didn't happen the way it did. And I guess there's certain parts I wish didn't... I would never say that."

"Because you love Jack, you love Wendy, and you love being a Guardian," Hamilton figured.

"I just wish everyone didn't have to get hurt. It cost a lot of pain for me to get to where I am, and even as I look at you, it still hurts."

"I know you're trying, and I know it's hard," Hamilton said.

"I'll try a little more... you just... need to forget about where I am and what I'm doing and let me know what's going on. Maybe if I know what is going on, that will be added encouragement to spend time with you."

"You shouldn't need encouragement to spend time with your family..." he commented and Morgan let his words pierce into her for a second and nodded.

"Have a good night, Hamilton." She turned away to leave him on the couch.

Jack looked up from where he stood in his bedroom, folding Wendy's clothes on the mattress, just as Morgan walked in and curled up in the corner armchair, clutching her knees to herself.

"And people wonder why I choose to leave and fight Pitch rather than stay around my family." She joked, as she dropped her head and buried her face in her knees. Jack smirked at her grin. "I would rather take everything he throws at me than what I deal with in this family. What's everyone doing?"

"Brad, Linda, Mallory, Jamie, and Sophie are watching one of those British TV shows and gushing over the hot men. Well, Jamie isn't. He's pretty bored. He's in the same room as them, playing in his phone."

"Typical."

"Nathan is cleaning up the kitchen, just as you asked, and Thomas and Cecil are playing checkers. Elizabeth and Wendy are hanging out and catching up and Charlee won't leave Wendy alone."

"So what happens every time we have dinner and there's a big blow out," Morgan sighed, relaxing in the chair.

"You were the one who started it this time, you know."

"Yeah, yeah..." Morgan agreed half heartedly.

"So what did you and Hamilton have to say to each other."

"Agh, well you know... I chewed him out for not letting me know what's going on, he chewed me out for not spending time with my family, gave me some advice on how he thinks the kids are acting out because of me, said I need to spend more time there and here, need to sort out my priorities, sex, and made it clear he still wants me but would never do anything to harm my relationship with you."

"What?!" Jack coughed, dropped the old rag of a t-shirt Wendy refused to throw away with the electric blue rabbits who were foaming at the mouth.

"Yeah, sweet, isn't it?" said Morgan tiredly/

"No, no, what did you... you and Hamilton talked... I mean, what did you say... and why?!"

"Relax, I made it sound more horrible than it was," Morgan scoffed. "He was trying to be all Dr. Phil and was trying to make a comment on how not only do I need to spend more time with Nathan, Bess, and Wendy, but also you and was trying to extract information about how much sex we actually have."

"Did you tell him?"

"Yes. It's hard to keep things from him, you know. He's the father of two of my kids and he used to be my husband."

"I suppose he was surprised about our little rendezvous."

"Actually he was talking more about when we actually, you know, do it in a comfortable area and have time for the whole, looking into each other's eyes and cuddling and what not.  
"Oh... yeah that doesn't happen as often as I would like..." Jack confessed and Morgan gave him a sympathetic nod of agreement. "Still, I can't believe you talked about that!"

"Jack, your jealous side is showing," she teased.

"I know, I know. I trust Hamilton, and you, and I know he's just concerned it's just... he's asking his old wife about her private life with her husband I mean... isn't that our business?!"

"One would think. But when you're in the constant proximity of four other Guardians and spend more time with them than your own family and have no private time, they learn a lot of things you would rather they not know. So apparently it's the business of you, me, Hamilton, North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy."

"I'm very glad Sandy refuses to speak about it." Morgan raised an eyebrow. "I mean his way. With the pictures in the Dreamsand. That would be too much." Morgan helped to stack all of Wendy's folded laundry together and placed the tower of clothes in the basket. She kissed Jack's nose and nestled into his chest, melting into his hold around her abdomen.

"How about a Greenland Dog?" he whispered as his lips caressed her ear softly.

"Hm? Why a Greenland Dog?"

"When was the last time you heard of anyone owning one? And they're good dogs for the winter. They even have a code specifically designed to prevent frostbite. They're strong and large and fierce, a good watch dog too. They have high endurance and strength and once they trust their owners, they are incredibly loyal and protective."

"Aren't they similar to wolves, though?"

"So are Huskies. And if you get one as a puppy, it's easier to get them to trust you and build it up. I think if we had a dog like that around, I would feel more comfortable leaving Wendy alone. In a few years, she'll be able to stay at home without a baby sitter. And it will give her a good companion."

"Until she gets a little older and wants a relationship."

"We'll deal with that when that comes. This will distract her for a while. In a couple of days, I'll stop by Greenland and take a look at the dogs."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack was careful to step over Elizabeth, sleeping on the floor of Wendy's room. While they had many guest rooms in the house, too many people stayed over for there to be room for everyone. All the adults had their own rooms, Nathan and Thomas demanded to sleep by themselves, Mallory and Charlee were sleeping in the pull out bed of the couch, and Cecil was sleeping on a cot they pulled out for him. Elizabeth had taken up a sleeping bag in Wendy's room, to Wendy's relief, as Charlee originally wanted to sleep with her. Charlee was really attached to Wendy, in a way that drove her nuts. Recognizing this, Jack intervened and gave some half truth about Wendy never getting time with her sister and it was quickly remedied. As far as mortal friends, Elizabeth was probably closest to a best friend Wendy had, but that wasn't enough for her. Bess, as she preferred to be called, was too much like a sister to her, as far as Wendy knew, her half sister even, and she wanted a friend who was not someone she grew up around.

"Hey," Jack rasped in the darkness, trying to be as gentle as possible. Wendy moaned and turned away from the sound of his voice, protesting to waking up at such insane hours. Jack pushed his hand into her back. She shuddered at his touch, but having spent over nine years with Jack Frost for a father, she was nearly immune to his sudden ice touches and it wasn't enough to wake her up. "Wenders, come on, get up. I want to show you something."

"Unless you're teaching me to drive the sleigh, I don't wanna..." she moaned, flipping back over.

"I promise, it's really cool."

"I'm sorry but the person you have called is unavailable. Please leave a detailed message at the beep. Beeep!" Wendy snorted and burrowed under the pillow. Jack's grin twisted into something a little more sinister and he ripped Wendy from her bed, throwing her over her shoulder. Wendy yelped and slammed her fists against Jack's back, but he made no movement of being injured. He simply smiled cleverly to himself as she gave her opinion on being awoken and dragged out of bed.

"Dad, come on this is not fair I'm tired I want to sleep-"

"Be quiet, everyone is sleeping."

"Which is exactly what I want to be doing right now. And why aren't you in bed? Did Mom kick you out again? She did, didn't she... where are you going to sleep now, the couch is taken?"

"Wendy, shhhhh!" he hushed as he carried her throughout the house and near the door. He set her down and instructed she put on her snow boots and he helped her pull on her bright fluorescent purple coat. After taking a moment to inspect she had on a hat and was wearing gloves, he picked her up again and went outside.

"Daddy, what are we doing?" she yawned, and her head began to dip with sleep.

"Don't fall asleep. I want to show you something your mother and I did all the time."

"That doesn't sound pleasant," she yawned again. "I want a doughnut. Can I have a doughnut?"

"After, love," he chuckled and Wendy crawled onto his back, holding onto his shoulders. "You got a firm grip?"

"Yes, Dad." And to assure him, she locked her fingers around his neck and he felt okay in taking off. The wind picked up when he requested it to, and Wendy lethargically opened her eyes a little at the sparkle of moonlight across the Arctic waters. It was a scene she knew well, but also one that always hypnotized her when she saw it. The land mass of Canada appeared soon and she lifted her head when she saw the ribbons of gold gliding across the continent of North America. Jack felt the weight of her rise and he lifted one hand to anchor her arm to him. He slowed himself down and landed on the strand of the electric wire that stretched between the wooden poles down the street in Yellowknife. He walked across it, ice dropping down it and creating a sturdy and safe surface for him to walk across. He pulled Wendy from around his neck and tried to lower her onto the wire, but she scrambled back up to him and clawed her nails into his back. He bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain.

"Dad! These are electrical wires! There's electricity in them! Charlee says-"

"Since when did you start listening to Charlee, huh?" he chuckled.

"Since she knows a lot about the human world! If we touch electricity, it's dangerous!"

"Here's another lesson your mother and I never taught."

"I'm finding there's a lot," she snapped. Jack blinked and smiled.

"This is only dangerous if you were to touch two wires at one time, or something else. It's trying to redirect itself. If you touched the wire, and the ground, that would be dangerous. If you touched two wires at once, that would be dangerous. Electricity is trying to reach the ground and find an alternate route. But as long as you don't touch anything else, it's fine. Besides, I've coated it with ice, you're fine."

"But, it's still... a small wire and we're so high..."

"You've flown over oceans and continents as the heights of airplanes and _now _you're afraid of heights?!" Jack nearly burst out laughing as she allowed him to pull her off of him. Hesitantly, she touched her feet to the wire, wobbling over it's thin length. Her gloved hands slipped into Jack's hands and he kept his grasp on her as she walked across it, putting one foot in front of the other.

"Not afraid of heights. I know you won't drop me. I trust you."

"Then trust me now, Snowdrop. I won't let you fall."

"Mom would kill you."

"We did this all the time, shush."

"But I'm scared!"

"Hey, what did your mom and I teach you about fear?"

"That it's always there and sometimes keeps you from dangerous situations, but you should never let it control you or rule your life, that you need to show it who's boss and fight against it, that it's all in your head and if you work past it, you can do anything." Wendy repeated, after years of being conditioned of how to control her fear. "But this is a dangerous situation and my life is in danger!"

"Dear, I fight against Pitch for a living. I'm pretty sure I can protect my little darling girl from falling." The golden sand split across the sky and Wendy breathed shortly at the sight of the sky being lighted by the glow of the Dreamsand snaking through the black blanket, the stars seeming to twinkle more in contrast to the glimmering of the illuminated ribbons trailed above them.

"Is that Sandy?" Wendy wanted to know as she squeezed her father's fingertips.

"Yep!" he answered and lifted her back on her shoulders. Wendy raised her hands and she grazed through the sand, images of cities and houses and her with Jack and Morgan playing a large backyard. She laughed and danced in it. Jack lifted her into the air, floating o the movement of the air and they danced together across the tops of the sand, Jack spinning his daughter up into his arms. She giggled and he kissed her nose lightly. She nuzzled his neck and rested against his chest. He swung her around, ripping through the magical substance that floated around them.

"This is amazing!" she breathed. "It's so beautiful! I see why you and Mom did it so much."

"Would you like to do it again?"

"Yes!" The pink of dawn lined the edge of Earth and Wendy yawned again. He pulled her back and cradled her, brushing her dark hair aside and losing his breath at how much her frozen sapphire eyes mimicked his perfectly. Sometimes he had to wonder himself if she truly wasn't her child. "But I think I want to go home and sleep first."

"I think that's a good idea... but what do you say to that doughnut first?"

Wendy smiled.

* * *

**Maybe there will be another tonight, maybe not. My roommate wants to go running around tonight and I don't know what time we'll get back. So see you when I can rosettes!**


	7. The Bonds of Growing Up

**Consider yourselves spoiled, here's another chapter for you!**

* * *

Fallen asleep on him on the way back, after her belly had been satisfied from a fresh;y baked doughnut from a gas station, Wendy was quickly tucked back into bed once they reached home. As silent as Jack was, Elizabeth still popped up, wide awake in her sleeping bag. She yawned and he stopped in his step, hoping that maybe she was going to go back to sleep and think it all a dream.

"Jack, where were you?" Elizabeth tiredly questioned, lifting the end of her sleeping bag up to fight against the change in temperature he was creating in the room.

"Uh..."

"You took Wendy out for another late night adventure, didn't you?" she figured, rubbing her eyes.

"You caught me," he breathed, and turned back to her, sitting on the area in front of her.

"Wendy's so lucky to have you for a father."

"Hey, come on now, your dad is pretty cool too."

"I guess... but I mean, he can't do stuff like you can. You're a Guardian."

"That's not his fault, is it?" Jack said with a chuckle. "I just think you should focus on what your dad _does_ do with you, rather than comparing the stuff he does to what I do. Besides, we do stuff, don't we?"

"Dad likes you, but... he's afraid that you're trying to take the place as my father."

"I would never do that, ever, Bess," he placed his hand on top of her head and stroked her short locks, messing her hair up far more than it was from sleep. "I'm just trying to entertain you, while also doing what your mother expects me to do. Anything that I do that makes your dad uncomfortable, I won't do. I promise that... even so, I love you as if you were my own daughter. And I would do anything for you, you know that right? You and Nathan. I was there when you were both born, and I've known you since you were babies. And I watched you grow up. But I won't take the role of your father. You already have one." Elizabeth shrugged and smiled quickly, taking in the information he was giving her.

"It's just... she gets to do so much..."

"Let me put it this way. Think about all the disadvantages being a Guardian has. We can't be seen, only by those who believe. That also means we can't be out in the real world and converse with people every day like you can't. We can't just take Wendy to an amusement park or for a day our shopping. If she wants to do that, she needs to be with an adult who can be seen, which is why we have her stay with you a lot. Everything we do with her needs to be done either when no one else is around, or through some trickery. Otherwise, if someone saw her without parents, she could be picked up and taken to social services. Besides that, our job is demanding, especially right now. We're trying to find Pitch, and protect all of you, so we're away from home a lot and spend very little time with her. She can't go to public school, and therefore has no friends who aren't... you guys. It's stressful. Some of the stuff we do is rewarding, yes, but it also comes with huge drawbacks."

"I guess that makes sense."

"But we can do stuff, if you want, sometime though," Jack suggested, and Elizabeth turned her head when he made to kiss, so he could better get her cheek.

"What were you and Wendy doing anyway?"

"Do you remember when I took you out to see the Dreamsand about four years ago?"

"Yes. Did she like it?" Elizabeth laughed.

"Loved it." Wendy stirred under the covers and rolled over, sighing. "Don't tell your mom that I woke her up and took her outside when she should be sleeping."

"You know how mom is with lying."

"I'm not lying. I'm not hiding it from her. If she asks, I'll tell her. I'm just hiding it. There's a difference."

"Sometimes you're a terrible husband," Elizabeth asked.

"I hear that a lot."

"I'm sorry for what happened at dinner," she apologized quietly, sad eyes avoiding Jack. "I didn't know it... I didn't think."

"It's not your fault," he said comfortingly.

"Thanks for excusing me after... Nathan said that... thing..." she blossomed red in her nose and cheeks, trying to show her gratitude but too embarrassed to mention something about growing up in front of her step dad.

"He was just trying to embarrass you," Jack quickly responded, trying to ignore the intense pressure of awkwardness. He was trying to push past all of the strains and embarrassments of raising a child, especially a girl. It wouldn't be long before he would need to address certain things with Wendy and he couldn't work his way around them. "You know, your mother is going to want to... talk."

"But I talked to Linda already, and she told me everything!"

"But it's your mother. She missed out on a lot. And you have this chance now, so you should take it. I don't know understand why, honestly, it confuses me, but apparently many mothers are overjoyed when... that kind of thing happens to their daughter. And they want to know about it and experience it."

"Is mom going to give me the talk too?!" Elizabeth asked with horror and stuck out her tongue. "No, no, no. I don't want to."

"Have you had it already? Your dad gave it to you? Without your mom there?"

"He made me ask Linda."

"Oh, she is the worst person..."

"Actually, she was very informative."

"Exactly the reason... you know what? Never mind. You don't want to be talking to be about this kind of stuff with me."

"It's actually not as weird as it is with Dad." Elizabeth looked over to Wendy and then pursed her lips, frowning as she did. "Speaking of which, um... I know this is weird but... does Mom still get her... you know."

"No," Jack answered quickly, hoping to get past the topic that Elizabeth seemed to be okay addressed around him.

"So she can't get pregnant?" Jack's face fell, understanding where she was going with this. It never occurred to him that maybe Hamilton hadn't quite told his kids exactly where Wendy had come from, and Morgan had never mentioned it. Elizabeth would have been too little when Wendy came into their lives and she hadn't really been around her mother, less than Wendy had.

"No, Elizabeth, she can't. Technically, she's actually... still dead. Like a super awesome, super powerful zombie that doesn't eat brains and acts one hundred percent human. It's like, right before she died, the moon saved her and persevered her and now she had magic and is a protector of children all over the world." Elizabeth nodded with understanding, and Jack had prepared his answer for the next question.

"Wendy's not my real sister. She's adopted?"

"Yes, Bess. Wendy is... sort of adopted. I mean, it's not like we walked into an office and signed papers and went through the legal process. Tooth found her, two days old and hypothermia was setting in, and gave her to us."

"But biologically, she's not yours."

"Correct." Elizabeth looked over at the young girl sleeping, her dark hair falling over her face and a pleasant grin turned up on her face. Elizabeth looked at her in deep thought, thinking carefully.

"Does she know?"

"We're going to tell her when the time is right. But, no. She actually doesn't even know that's she's human. Morgan didn't want her to know. She was afraid if she knew she was human, she would try to wedge her way into the human world. She does that anyway, but I know Morgan and I know Wendy. She's going to figure it out before she's told."

"So why not tell her?"

"Because that would be another fight with Morgan, and I don't want that."

"Where did she come from?"

"How old are you again?"

"Almost thirteen."

"And what's your experience with gruesome stuff?"

"Uh, have you forgotten who my mother is? She had me watch _Schindler's List_ with her."

"Right. Okay. Whoever Wendy's mother was had tossed her aside, in a dumpster." Elizabeth wobbled with the truth.

"Did you ever want to find out who she was?"

"Wendy might, but I have no desire to. I want nothing to do with a bitch who tossed a child away like that." The young girl gaped at her stepfather who gave her sheepish look. "Don't repeat that, please."

"I don't understand... she has the same eyes as you, and her smile looks like Mom's. And she has a chin that looks like Nathan's. Okay, her hair... no. I mean our family has brown hair, but it's not that dark, I guess. And her cheeks are nothing like us and... well, I guess her nose is like yours a little."

"It's like my sister's actually."

"Sophie?!"

"No, my real sister, you goof," Jack chuckled. "Emma."

"It's like she is a member of the family, almost. She looks like a family member, and not at the same time."

"She has your love of reading and your rebellion."

"That's because I helped to teach her to read and I was the one who showed her how to slip into the workshop." Elizabeth beamed with pride at her admittance and Jack folded his arms against his chest, scrunching up his eyebrows.

"I got blamed for that!"

"I figured it out when I was seven!"

"I keep so many of your secrets, Jack. Consider us even."

"Fine, kid," he taunt and rolled his eyes. "Now get up. Your mother will be up soon to make breakfast."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The clocked on the wall ticked on by, distracting Morgan from what Linda was saying. She kept thinking about the others and what happened without them. What were they doing, and what was Pitch up to? Where they nearby? He was so close before, and she could feel it. Her own personal history with Pitch had often given her the drive to catch him and lock him forever, and maybe even torture him. But Morgan knew it was wrong to think that way, and not in the Guardian spirit at all. She wondered if maybe that was part of why she was so determined and so fueled to track him down, and why she put that as apart of her priorities.

"But no matter what I say, I just know you are hearing nothing because you're staring at the wall, thinking about what's happening with Pitch because you are so obsessed with finding him!"

"What, did you say Pitch?" Morgan asked, her hot chocolate burning in the grasp of her hands.

"Yes, I did! And you would know everything I said if you just paid attention!" Linda growled and sipped her own mug. Outside, there came yells and laughs from most of the children galloping and playing in the snow, while Jack busied himself by creating more snow and dropping huge clumps of it on the kids' heads.

"I'm sorry, I'm..."

"What are you going to do with your life when you do catch the damn guy?" she wanted to know. "You spend your whole life on this, and when everything's okay again, you're not going to know what to do. You're just going to have to be around real people a lot. Oh, and your kids, you know, you should probably be there to watch them grow up. Elizabeth's already hit puberty you know, and Nathan's in his awkward years. Oh my God, he's the same age as Jack, you know that is so weird, being married to someone the same age as your son-"

"He's not the same age. Jack actually looks older, you know. Sure, age has something to do with looks, but so does stress, and wisdom and the things you see in the world. He looks more like he's twenty-five than anything, with everything that's happened in 330 years. Or... whatever. We don't celebrate each other's birthdays. Just anniversaries."

"Ooh, yeah your tenth one is going to be this December, isn't it?! You guys doing anything special?"

"Depends on if Pitch is caught or not."

"Nonsense, you need to do something! Life doesn't stop just because some evil lord of evil traumatizes children and breaks adults spirits so everything gets all depressing and things suck and... you know, actually, maybe it does." Morgan looked at sympathetically and glanced back out the window to cackle wildly at Nathan getting plastered in the face with a snowball Cecil let slip out of his hands. Linda brightened at the sound of her voice, amused by the happenings outside.

"I haven't heard that in a long time."

"I haven't seen much that makes me laugh anymore," Morgan admitted, pushing her mug away. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I look at you, and I see the silver in your hair..."

"It's chic!" Linda said with a dramatic pose, and whipping her hair as if she were a model, the grey highlights streaming angelically through her black strands. Morgan smiled.

"I keep thinking... it's been ten years. My kids are growing up. I'm going to have to bury my children. My family is going to be gone someday. My best friend is going to be gone. And I have to live with that."

"There was a time when I thought my best friend, my soul sister was dead. And for a good while. And despite the pain I felt, I knew things would be all right and I would get past it. And you will too. I know you will. But you, thankfully, don't have to think about it for a very long time. In fact, you are going to suffer me for a long time, because I get to taunt you and torture you," Linda said with a fake laughter of maniacal origins and rubbed her hands together with malevolent anticipation.

"Explain." Morgan sipped from her mug as she waited.

"Well, as I _tried_ to say before, in your absence, in her time of growing up, Elizabeth has turned to me for questions regarding everything."

"She talked to you when she got her period?" Morgan asked, and Linda nodded.

"Yep! Thankfully, she already suspected what it was and called me up and I came over and talked to. I was the one she asked about sex to." Morgan hacked and spit the rest of her liquid chocolate into her mug.

"What?!"

"That was last year. Yeah, she asked me. But don't worry, I took care of it, and left _nothing _out!"

"Oh my God, Linda. Oh my God. You just need to tell her what it is, how it works, and how a child is conceived, you don't need to go through every single little... what did you tell her, really?!"

"Ye of little faith, my dear Morgan!" Linda told her, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "I have done this before, you know. I know what I am doing. Elizabeth doesn't know _everything_ of course, I'm perverted, not stupid."

"Thank God."

"She'll find out the other stuff soon enough, she's starting 7th grade. Oh my Gosh, how exciting for you! I remember when Mallory first started and soon she started talking about boys and there was all this drama with friends, it was fantastic, it made me so happy to see her see boys the same way I did!"

"Do we have any alcohol...?"

"Hey, what's the deal with Wendy, by the way? How is she ever going to fall in love if she's never around humans? Or is there a secret clan of humans living up here than you intend to … Noooo! I know, you're going to try and marry her off to Cupid."

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"Oh I'm imaging their wedding right now!"

"JACK!" Morgan yelled out the window hurriedly. "Linda is talking about Wendy getting older and getting married!"

"It's Linda, are we surprised?" Jack laughed back.

"To Cupid!"

Silence.

"I'm coming in the house right now!"

* * *

**That's enough for tonight though. Work again in the morning (I really hate these long shifts, it's so hard to find my energy). See you tomorrow night!**


	8. Exercising the Bonds of Family

**Okay guys, I know this isn't a particularly exciting chapter, but it has cute stuff in it. I would like to thank a certain individual for going over it for me as I wrote it when I wasn't ENTIRELY sober (but I was still pretty sober) to make sure it made sense and didn't sound so... drunk. So thanks :)**

Have fun and laugh.

* * *

"Remember what we talked about, okay?" Morgan told Elizabeth just as she yanked on the ends of her hat she had just placed on her head. Elizabeth readjusted it on her head, frowning at the way it was sitting when she let her mother set it on her head. The Barrys were the last of the people getting into the sleigh, Morgan trying hard to not let them go. It wasn't often she got to see her first children, and every time she saw them, her heart blossomed with infectious and uplifting joy. When they needed to leave, her heart wilted and there was a sickening explosion in her and she grew queasy with her heartache. She turned to Nathan who tried to look aloof and tap at his phone, but the quickness of his eyes told her that he was secretly vying for attention from his mother, but he didn't want to show how he cared so much for her. Morgan recognized this and respected it. She rubbed the top of his head and then pretended to punch him in the arm. "Okay, kid. I'm sorry I was so tough on you before. Your father seems like he's got it under control. But I want you to understand why-"

"Yes, mom," he groaned, but then the sliver of a smile broke through his stoic stare. "You're... coming to visit soon?"

"Jack, Wendy, and I are going to arrange a time to come and visit you guys again. Promise. And this time, I don't want to hear any stories of drinking or girls, okay?" Morgan laughed, wagging a finger in front of him.

"And you, little miss," Jack gruffly said, shoving Elizabeth comically and she stumbled with the surprise of it. "You're starting middle school. If I hear any nonsense about you having a boyfriend-"

"I have absolutely no desire to date anyone. Junior high is for fun. I'll wait until college to date. Your life is being sucked away anyway."

"Sucked away?" Jack repeated, laughing through it. "Well, that's good. You're much too young."

"Uh, I had a boyfriend when I was in 7th grade..." Morgan corrected, raising an eyebrow at him. "Two actually."

"At once?!" Elizabeth gagged in horror.

"No! Ew!" Morgan scoffed. "One, after the other."

"There was actually a little something in between..." Jack taunted evilly, and Morgan's hair whipped her in the face when she pivoted quickly to flare her nostrils at him.

"Don't you ever mention that to them!" she whispered through her teeth. "This is one of those never-tell-your-children things!"

"Mom, what did you do?" Nathan lowly begged to know.

"Just... nothing," Jack said, figuring out the weight of the news and considering what Morgan had involved herself in with Pitch those years ago was best to not say to them, maybe even ever. "We've all done some stupid stuff."

"Like the historical monument you accidentally broke and mom screamed at you for three weeks," Wendy reminded with a delighted twinkle in her eyes. When it happened, it was a pretty terrifying incident, but looking back on it now, Wendy thought the whole scenario was hilarious.

"Yeah, that!" Jack was much too quick to agree to, attempting to sway the conversation away from Morgan's topic.

"Mom, you don't need to button my coat!" Nathan protested, and Morgan used the moment to steal a kiss from him. "Ugghh..."

"I love you. Both of you. And I promise we'll be by, soon." Wendy walked forward to give her stepbrother and stepsister hugs, Elizabeth being a little warmer about the embrace. The two children galloped into the sleigh, filling it. Hamilton waved goodbye and the other adults and children called out just as Jack swiped a kiss away from Morgan and Wendy. He took up the position as sleigh driver and directed the reindeer to fly south, circling around the area to get good air.

"Be careful! And don't drive too-" But Jack was already making dips in he air and giving loud whoops. "-recklessly." She moaned helplessly and turned to Wendy, who was leaping and clapping as she watched her father speed off.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Upon receiving the sheet of paper with "100%" written at the top, Wendy clapped for herself and bounced in her seat at the table. She picked up the book beside her and held it out for Jack, who was hard at work setting the dishes away in the cupboards. He grinned and took the book from her, kissing the top of her head.

"You liked it then?" Morgan asked, amused to see her daughter so impressed with herself over a test.

"I loved it! It was so cute."

"When I read it, I thought it was boring," Morgan added.

"That's because _The Secret Garden _ is about healing and not about important artifacts left behind by highly regarded or infamously horrible people or the places they lived in. If there's not a famous body that's been decaying for several years, your mother doesn't care," Jack teased, tucking the book away in his jacket pocket.

"I thought it was beautiful, and it had a happy ending," Wendy enthused, clutching her score on her homemade test. "How did you do on this test, Mom? When you took it before me?"

"She got 24%," Jack answered gleefully before casting his wife a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Mom!" Wendy scoffed and then giggled.

"I hate this book, okay?" Morgan grinned, rubbing the top of her daughter's head aggressively.

"Then why did you make me read it?"

"Because it was in the lesson plan online that I've been following, and Linda recommended it. We've been bouncing books back and forth so I don't always give you the ones I love. That would make your schooling very one sided and not well rounded. However, that does remind me, it was my turn to choose a book this time for your next unit." Jack took that as his cue, taking the copy of _The Secret Garden_ with him and heading into the living to search through the box they kept Wendy's schoolbooks in. He groaned at the cover of the next book, dreading how adamant Morgan was going to get about Wendy getting her facts straight with the book. He dropped it in front of Wendy and then returned to putting the dishes away. Jack wasn't allowed to wash dishes, because he always froze the water, so it was his job to put them away after Morgan washed them. The same rules when with supper. Since he would freeze the stove, it was his job to grocery shopping – which he despises because he always managed to get some item wrong.

"_Number the Stars_?" Wendy read. "What's that?"

"It's going to go hand in hand with your history lesson."

"I hate it when you do that," Wendy said.

"It makes it easier to learn, and it's good to have a connection. Besides that, Wendy, if you forget every single piece of history you have learned in your life-"

"Your mother will have a heart attack," Jack finished, folding up the towel and hanging it on the fridge handle. Morgan pivoted her neck to look at him threateningly.

"As I was saying, if you forget everything else, I want you to know this. This one of the most important pieces of history you will learn, and it is important you know it."

"Why?"

"Lesson number one: This book is about the Holocaust."

"What is that?"

"Well, it's not pretty, I can tell you that. In fact, it's really sad and upsetting and might even make you mad. But those are some the reasons it's vitally important to remember these events."

"What... happened was it... bad?" Wendy whispered. "Was it like... Boogeyman bad?"

"Much worse," Jack added, joining them at the table and flipping through her school. "And I agree with your mother. In all of history, one of the most important subjects to study is the Holocaust. It's something everyone needs to know. I know you get bored with reading your mother's favorite books, but you should really pay attention to this one. And because we want you to learn as much as possible, this unit is going to be a long one." Wendy understood by the tone of her father's voice and how much he wanted her to pay attention that this would be one of the most important lessons of her coursework that year. She moved her chair in and used her palms as a pillow for her chin, kicking her legs with restless focus as she followed their words.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The animal cooed and whimpered, growling slightly in protest to the way he was being held, but wagged his stubby little tail when Jack used his knuckles to rub the top of his rust colored markings, surrounding his eyes and and making room for the white along the sides of his muzzle. The pup had white around his collarbone and neck, and his back seemed to have been splattered with dark red paint. His legs were white, his belly white, and the tip of his tail was white. The dog has some semblance of a husky, but markings and bone structure unique from one, and its colorings were different from an average dog – chosen carefully for that reason. Wendy always wanted something a little different.

"You got the pet stain remover?" Morgan asked as she plucked small animal from Jack's hands.

"Yes, dear," he moaned.

"And what about the disinfectant?"

"Yes, I have that."

"Dog dishes? Leash? Chew toys?"

"I have them all."

"Dog food?"

"Oh dang it!"

"Jack!"

"I'm kidding!" he chuckled. "Calm down, love. I have everything, I promise. He has everything he needs to be healthy and fun loving, and then some." Playfully, the puppy nipped at Jack, who waved his finger around and dared him to catch it. The puppy shut its eyes and rested it's head on Morgan's shoulder. That day was the last day there were going to have alone with Morgan. That night was a night to be hunting for Pitch again, and they decided to pick up the puppy that day so Wendy would have a companion while they were gone. The two of them knocked on Wendy's door, and when she welcomed them, Jack slipped through first, blocking her view of the puppy. The staggered whir of the sewing machine in her room was running, and red fabric with green specks was pinned under the needle.

"Hey Dad! Hi Mom!" said Wendy, and she picked up a small pointed hat with the red glitter on it, one with a silver bow on top, and one with a gold bow. "Do you think the gold bow or the silver bow looks better. I want the elves to accessorize, I think their wardrobes look a little too plain. I sent a picture to Elizabeth in a letter, but the note that Baby Tooth dropped off an hour ago says she thinks they're too weird looking, and that baubles, not bows belong on the top of hats. I think it looks great. Gold or silver?"

"Gold," Jack guessed.

"I think silver so we'll go with silver."

"Or we could say my opinion doesn't matter," Jack offered in jest. "Wendy, we want to talk to you."

"I know you guys have to leave tonight..." Wendy grieved, dropping her hands from the knobs of the sewing machine. "You already told me about it. Yes, I know the rules. I won't break into North's workshop. I won't turn on the oven, I'll listen to Olivia... most of the time. And I'll go to bed thirty minutes after I'm supposed to."

"No," Jack laughed, and stepped away from the doorway. Morgan walked in, the red and rust furred dog resting in the crook of her arms. Wendy screamed and bolted for the animal. The dog shut up and whimpered, baring its teeth instinctively. Jack threw a cold hand across her mouth and shushed her. "You're scaring him." She nodded and he let his hand fall. Wendy tiptoed to her mother stroked his fur. Her bubbly spirit was desperate in trying to escape, and her heels bounced where she stood. She took the dog from her mother and awwed and oohed at its small size.

"He's mine?" she asked.

"We thought you could use some company while we're gone," said Morgan, being pulled closer to Jack by his arm.

"What's his name?"

"We wanted you to pick," Jack answered, shiny whites peering through the gaps of his lips.

"Licorice!" she decided in that moment. "And I can call him Licky for short. Does he have food? And toys?!"

"Everything is tucked in a basket near the door in the living room," Jack answered. "He has plenty of toys so you can play. And there's a dog bed out there. You can move it in here if you like."

"I love him!" she declared proudly. "And I love you guys! So much! Can I take him for walks?!"

"Yes, you can," Jack clarified just as she was grasping his middle and then giving Morgan a large hug. In her arms, Licorice nuzzled into the crook of her arm and contently yawned. Wendy stroked him while she smiled and then looked at her parents.

"Hey, um, mom? Dad? About, um... five books ago-"

"So last week," Jack interrupted with humor. Wendy narrowed her eyes at him and then broke into a smile, having trouble trying to maintain her serious mood.

"Anyway, I read a book where a girl's parents were too busy for her to make up for it, they bought her everything she ever wanted in life, but she still felt really sad because what she wanted more than anything was time with her parents, and she began to think they didn't love her."

"Do you think that's what we're doing?" Jack questioned, his brow forming waves of concern. He reached out and touched the end strands of her dark hair, frost encrusting the tresses. Wendy tousled her hair to break the frost.

"Well, not really, I mean... I'm scared. I know you have a really important job, and I know that means its super busy but... I need you as much as the rest of the world. I'm afraid that will happen. I like stuff, but not a lot of stuff. I want you guys around, you know?"

"We gave you Licorice because we know how lonely it is when we're not here," Morgan explained. "We're not giving you everything in the world, and we need time with you too. We would rather be here, with you, playing cards and eating popcorn in front of the TV. But we'll say no more if you would like!"

"No, no, that's okay," laughed Wendy, touching his fur. "Make time for me please. But I know you have a really crazy job." Once more, she passed around the hugs and kept the puppy close to her chest. "I'm happy you guys have such important jobs. It means you're strong and brave, and I like having parents that are like that. You're my heroes." Jack scraped away the ice drop that froze on the edge of his eye and Morgan grinned too much, stretching her muscles to keep in her tears. "I love you. Now go kick some Boogeyman butt!"

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**I'm so happy to sleep in! I promise you guys some action soon :) It's still some set up right now. Thanks for sticking with me. See you tomorrow!**


	9. Climb to the Top

**I would like to thank my neighbor, whom I do not know, who likes to walk around the building at night, playing his guitar. He unknowingly provided musical inspiration for this chapter, as my window was open and I could hear him. So thank you, Neighbor. You will never know. But thank you.**

**First chapter for this story I actually LOVED so I am very excited to share it with you. Please enjoy :)**

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Every time they glimpsed at the globe in the center of North's workshop, the group was startled to see how many lights had been knocked off of it. There was still quite a few shining bright, but those were only the kids who simply believed. It did not show adults, nor did it show the situations they were in and all the miserable things that were surrounding them and taking over their lives. What the lights did tell them was that there was still a few handfuls of children in the world who held onto hope and had something that gave them the hope. But it was distressing to think five more would have lost all of their wonder the next morning, and it was the work of the elusive Pitch. Morgan's eyes welled at how many they lost over the week of vacation they had, and there was a pinch in her stomach of mild regret. Jack slid his arm through his, fingers tracing down her wrist until their hands met. Her attention turned to him and the searching sapphires told her he was also thinking about the misery in the world and that it was eating him up.

"Jack! Morgan!" North bellowed through his thundering laughter. Despite all the tragedies and the sorrows that surrounded them, he always kept himself chipper and it was infectious. It was hard to be upset around North when he always bumbled around, laughing and joking with them. "I hope you have good vacation?"

"We did, thank you," Jack grinned in his appreciation, spinning his hooked staff in his hand. "And Wendy wants us to kick some Boogeyman butt!"

"Oh ho ho ho, and... we shall," North snickered. A large, white-grey mass of fur walked up to north and placed a large black box in his hand. "I thank you, Frederick. Okay! I have Yetis make up some mini mics for us to keep contact out in field."

"Mini mics?" Morgan wondered, just as he undid the latch and passed out smaller thin black boxes and a sort of headband with one side that would wrap around the head and had a small ball around the end. She took one handed to her and discovered hers had a rubber coating.

"All mics are tailored to your needs. They are like walkie talkie but with headset. Sandy, you just have earpiece, but it has mesh to keep out sand! Morgan, you have waterproof, and Jack you have frost resistance. However, Morgan, yours is not frost resistance, and Jack, yours is not waterproof so don't get too close to each other's."

"That was your suggestion, wasn't it?" Jack asked, glancing sideways at the oversized rabbit who stood beside him. Bunny rolled his green eyes, but then snickered proudly and shrugged with a smirk.

"We keep in contact. After what happened the other day-"

"What happened the other day?" Morgan wanted to know with worried desperation.

"Tooth got stuck in a thicket and none of us could find her," Bunny explained. "We decided we may need a better communication system, especially considering how many times you buggers have wandered off and we couldn't find ya and we find out ya two were perfectly okay." His eye twitched with memory. Morgan's cheeks flourished with magenta and she looked at the area above their heads were crafted toys were zooming and floating over their heads.

"So, we use this to speak!" North said, and then produced several folded pieces of newspaper print. "Last night news says there is high crime, violence, and destitution in India, just near coast. I look at signs and say 'That is where Pitch is now.'"

"India?!" Tooth gasped, holding her hands over her face.

"Yes, and I think we have plan. For ten years, we chase him over South America, over islands, and then he went across Europe, but always in odd directions, jump around. He went into France, then into Algeria, back into Spain, then Morocco, then Mauritania, then stay in Africa little bit, then Italy before covering more Europe and zip down to South Africa and finish off Europe. India has tip. Not much below India."

"The Maldives are there and Sri Lanka is there," Morgan quickly corrected. Above his head, Sandman was offering explanation. He showed China, many faces, Pitch's face, and then the world. This time, what he was saying wasn't entirely clear. "Ummm..."

"Of course, Sandy! That makes sense!" Tooth gasped and zoomed around the workshop to spin him into a pleased hug.

"Um, how?" Jack asked, also a little fuzzy on what Sandy had told them.

"China's population is huge," Tooth explanation. "If you're trying to dominate the world and step out hopelessness, wouldn't you want to target the places with great populations? You would win them, and then, with less people being hopeful in the world, the world will seem even more hopeless and it would just continue to ripple effect! If he's in India, why wouldn't he go up into China? Maldives and Sri Lanka is nothing compared to the effect he could have China."

"And we need to do it fast. Once he leaves the Asian mainland, besides Australia, we got a bunch of bloody islands he can hop around on and it's gonna be a bit tricky to chase him around those. We still got a bit of time. He's got to hit Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Russia – and Russia's a bloody big area, so it's possibly that could take him some time. Even so, there's not a lot of time left to cover, so we must take our opportunity while we have the chance."

"So we wait for him at the border!" Tooth expressed. "We'll spread across the Himalayas."

"Very good, Toothy!" North praised. "Is good idea. We do it!"

"Hold on, hold on!" shouted a voice as it stumbled into the room. Two Yetis walked into the room with the angelic and beautiful man walking between the two of them. The doors shut and Cupid walked forward, giving a gracious wave to the Yetis who walked him in. He strode closer, his tone muscles rippling out of the incredibly wide open cream colored tunic. In his tight fitting brown leather pants, he walked with the grace of a model in his golden, gladiator sandals. The brass bands around his wrists clinked when he clapped his palms together and the blonde waves in his hair fell just as they always did – seductively, over his celestial blue eyes and the bronze tone of his skin. He winked and grinned to Morgan, and she felt that breathlessness that occurred often times after she finishing kissing Jack. For a second, her head spun, but one look at Jack reminded her of who was there and who she wanted. Still, it was incredibly easily to feel relaxed around him and she had a lot of trouble resisting the sudden burst of energy and glee she felt.

"Mon Cherie," he greeted and raised her palm to his lips.

"Very nice to see you Cupid," she sighed. Jack groaned.

"Okay, be quick," he snapped.

"Jackie, Jackie calm down!" he pouted and brushed Jack's wispy bangs from his eyes. Jack glared at him. "North asked for my help."

"You did?"

"Ya did?" Bunny added.

"You did?" Morgan smiled with a glow to her cheeks.

"Cupid is spirit of love. And he say all kinds of love. After what we saw last time, I thought we could use some encouraging on the love part."

"But I warned you, North, I can't make anyone do anything," Cupid told him firmly, and North waved his hand, ignoring him completely.

"I know this," he said. "You do your best. But even so. Cupid here is to try and help repair the broken relationships Pitch has wrecked with misdirection, mistrust, and wavering. He is also to encourage desire in parents to have fun with kids and spend time with them and give them good attention."

"I just want to realize how many factors play into this. Sometimes the desire is there, North," said Cupid. "And so is the love, but their priorities and the way they sort them is all their own. Sometimes I don't need to give them any sort of encouragement because they really want to – but their stubbornness and refusal to place their children above their other priorities or at the very least, balance their time, keeps them from making that connection." Cupid's blaming eyes cast a glance over at Morgan and she felt the sharp stab of conviction. She twiddled her thumbs and looked away. "Besides that, in things like schools or in public – some people are just cruel. If there's no connection between two individuals and they are complete strangers or have no feeling, I cannot add in desire or encouragement to be kind to them. I can't paint a picture without a paintbrush. It may do nothing at all."

"But it may do something," North reminded, and slipped his fur hat on his head. "Cupid, get to work at the Love Palace! We're going to Nepal. To the sleigh!" Bunny stood behind the line so no one would see how queasy he looked.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With an incredibly rough, but safe landing, the sleigh skidded across the peak of Mount Everest before a boulder of snow stopped its path. North cackled wildly at the fun while Jack jumped out, and cheered loudly after the uneven ride. Sandy spun in the air, enthused by the action, while Bunny merely crawled out and clutch at the ground, thanking it for being there. Sympathetically, Tooth patted Bunny on the shoulder and gave him warm grin. Morgan stepped out of the vehicle and barely noticed the shiver in her boots as she stood on the top, gazing out at the vast expanse of rolling fluffs of white with several peaks of smaller mountains sticking through them colored grey, silver, and luminescent white. The sun was wide awake, but not for long. It's fire light was just beginning to drop below the row of clouds Morgan now awed at, her eyes looking around to discover she really was on top of the world. This was the farthest she would ever be from the earth and still have her feet on it. She gulped in a deep before realizing how difficult it was with such thin air and the sorrow of all the lives lost to climbing this mountain tightened her. It wasn't something she generally thought about, but being in the place so many people strove to get to knocked something in her, and she thought about how many bodies were frozen in the crevices below and how many jackets were remnants of the people left behind.

"Morgan?" Jack asked, her blank stare always a sign to him she was thinking of something serious. "Are you okay?"

"Hundreds of people have died climbing this thing... and I can see how so many people thought it was worth the pain and the lack of oxygen and the danger to come up here. It's a sight, but... I think about the people in my life and..." Her eyes blinked and she rubbed away the tear, finding it was always gone with the harsh air. "It's so creepy. If we walked down, we may run into... some frozen... bodies... Morgan shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. "Most bodies are left on the mountain, Jack. Too dangerous to come and get them. Talk about dark and depressive, just being on top of this mountain..." Morgan stepped away from the edge of the peak so she wasn't looking down at much. Jack took her arm and his frosted lips grazed her ear.

"Just keep looking up," he said. "That's where the beauty is. Look to the sides, look behind you, and look up. But never, ever look down."

"When you two are done whispering sweet nothings," Bunny impatiently said. "We got a show to get moving." North retrieved a blue parka from the bottoms of the sleigh and draped it over Morgan's shoulders, patting the top of her head affectionately. She tapped the mic pressed against her cheek and tried her hardest to not focus on what might lay just below the clouds. Bunny smirked when he spied hr distressed look and leaned against her. "All right, Morgs. When was this first discovered?"

"That's a loaded question," she laughed, her mind beginning to spin its gears and work through her knowledge of Everest history. "It wasn't like someone saw Everest one day and said 'Look there is the tallest mountain in the world!' It was a process, and I guess you could say truly began with the Great Trigonometric Survey in 1802 when the British-"

"Enjoy the history lesson," Jack sarcastically said with very little sympathy. "You're going to be here all night. We'll go and catch Pitch."

"When someone asks you a question like that, you can't just give them a simple answer!" Morgan argued. "How else will they truly know?!"

"Well, when was it named Everest?" Tooth added in, showing a little bit of interest.

"It was named after George Everest, although it actually has many names. My favorite of which is Chomolungma because it's Tibetan for 'Holy Mother.' I can just imagine, especially now, someone standing on top of this and going 'Holy Mother-!' and seeing it in a Tibetan comic about how it got its name. Why am I telling you guys all this? You were around when this was discovered and named! All of you! And I'm the one giving the history lesson? The newbie? Tooth, you're _from_ India! Wouldn't you come back to your home every once in a while, and have seen the mountain and heard something about it?!"

"Uhh, we've been a little busy..." she chuckled.

"Yep, she's okay now. Good job, Bunny, this is all we're going to hear about the whole time we're going after Pitch. At least he won't sense Morgan now. There's no fear there. Only aggravation," Jack remarked with a playful turn of his brow. The sun dropped below the clouds and the moon soon cast its glow across the clouds and snow. Blue shadows formed across the humps of white, and the snow on the mountains glittered under the blackened blue sky. With the dark settling in, they began to part their ways. Bunny tapped his foot into the mountain to tunnel into another part of the Himalayas. Tooth jetted off in the opposite direction. North brandished his swords, holding them high and preparing for action while guarding his sleigh and reindeer. He was remaining on Everest. Jack scooped Morgan up and drifted over the blue shadowed world of mountain tops and sky mist and fog around them. She giggled at the sight, finding a little bit of romance and wonder in the middle of the darkness. He dropped her on a mountain that was quite a bit lower than Everest, placing her in a crevice just below its peak.

"This mountain isn't very well explored. I don't think you'll find anything here, so you'll be okay," he assured, and removed a book from his jacket. Morgan took it, face aglow when she read the title. _High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest_ by Edmund Hillary himself, one of the two to make it to the top the very first time. "We don't know how long we'll be here, and North thought you would like something to pass the time. He grabbed it from his library just before we left. He wants you to keep it. Thought it would be a good atmosphere." Jack smirked when she took it from him and he brushed back her nutmeg locks of hair, breathing across her naked cheek. "But just don't forget to keep looking up."

"Something's going to happen tonight. I can feel it," Morgan whispered, her book pressed tight against her. "We're close, aren't we?"

"Very close." He gripped her waist and slid his lips into hers, the motion of their kiss growing faster with their passion. Morgan's fingers squeezed into his neck and she gulped up his cold breath in between his kisses, finding kissing so much harder where the air was incredibly thin.

"Who's breathing so heavy?" questioned Tooth through the headset in both of their ears.

"I think that would be Morgan," answered North in the earpiece.

"No, that's definitely Jack." Bunny answered. Morgan giggled, picturing Sandy trying to chime in. There was silence as they figured it out.

"You two!" Tooth squawked.

"I'm just leaving!" he shouted.

"You better be, you blimey-"

"Go lay an egg," said Jack. He took one swipe of her kiss and then jetted off. Morgan settled into her small crevice, flipping to the first page and beginning to read. She got through several pages before anyone said anything in the mic, and it was some joke Bunny was trying to tell to lighten the mood. Morgan said she desired a cupcake, but nobody thought about bringing food since they never truly needed it (although it was nice to have a snack). Jack gave a commentary on an ice castle he was constructing and then laughed while he destroyed it. Tooth began to sing to herself. Around page 57 of her book was when Morgan spotted something on the mountain directly across from her. She shot up, the book falling to her feet and then quickly ducked into the shadows of the crevice.

"Hey, guys! Guys!" she whispered into the mic.

"Nice to know you're alive," Bunny said. "You've been quiet since the cupcake question. Was starting to worry you froze to death, mate. Oh wait, I suppose you're pretty used to being 'Frost' bitten, aren't you?"

"Not funny, Bunny!" Tooth scoffed, although North's boisterous laugh disagreed.

"Funny bunny!" Jack chortled and hacked.

"Guys!" Morgan hissed.

"Ya don't need to whisper. It's not like anyone's up here."

"YES THERE IS!" she said through gritted teeth. "On the mountain, direction across from me, there's a shadow moving up the mountain. Yes I said, 'up'. And it's growing."

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**Morgan's Everest book exists, and Edmund Hillary was the first confirmed safe ascent and safe descent, and the other person with him was Tenzing Norgay in 1953, making this the 60th anniversary of the climb. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and I am hoping to get another good one tomorrow! Good night my rosettes! See you later! Rosie out.**


	10. Incline Slide

**Have you any idea how stressful this chapter was to type?! I put so much research into this thing and it was painful but I needed to have correct info! I know so much more about the Himalayas than I ever did. And I know more about Indian geography hooray! I feel like these fanfics and research are things that will really help me in a pub quiz later. Anyway, not only was this stressful because of the research but because of all the Indian words, my computer hated checking the spelling. Ugh. But I actually love this chapter. It's so dramatic and action packed and suspenseful and funny.**

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The shadow stretched across the dips, the landings, and gliding over the mountains of the rocky terrain. Morgan watched the darkness slip aside and get closer to the top. Once he was over the top of the mountain, he would be in China, and she could not let that happen. The minute fear ruled the lives of the Chinese, he would have the advantage of world domination.

"Where is everyone at?" Bunny's voice came through the mic, taking on the authority of the strategist.

"Still on Everest," said North.

"I'm in the middle of range in Bhutan," Bunny responded.

"I'm near Jammu and Kashmir," came Jack's voice, calm but aggravated with impatience.

"I'm on a mountain Northeast of Shimla," Tooth whispered matter of factly.

"I have no idea where I am," Morgan sighed.

"If you haven't moved, dear, you're in the Uttarakhand region, just outside of Nepal," Jack answered.

"Sandy where at are you?" North asked, but there was silence, and then subtle laughing. "I forget. We need do something to get Sandy to communicate through these things."

"It doesn't matter anyway!" growled Bunny furiously. "Morgan, what mountain are you on?"

"I don't even know the area I'm in, how do I know what mountain I'm on?!" Morgan whispered carefully as she watched the dark thicken across the mountain. In reality, Pitch's shadow probably looked like it was taking awhile to ascend ad take over the mountain, but with as high as the mounds of the Himalayas were, he was probably moving at a lightning speed. She wasn't sure even Jack could move that fast over the peak.

"Aren't historians supposed to have a really good knowledge of geography so they know where famous events took place or somethin' like that?" Bunny questioned.

"I'm supposed to know every city and every mountain in the entire world now?! I van put every country on a map, and I can locate Kathmandu, Surat, Mumbai, and I know all the Pradeshes, but I can't tell you where something as remote as... wherever the hell Shimla is! Obviously, it's in the Himalayas but-"

"Excuse me, but it's happens to be the capital city of Himachal Pradesh! It is an incredibly tourist-y, filled with wonderful architecture, and is home to the biggest event in South East Asia! The MTB Himalaya!" No one responded to Tooth for a while. "Seriously? A biking race? How do you not know the MTB?!"

"We are not Indian, Toothy," North said into the mic.

"But you... it... it was the summer capital of British India in 1864! Morgan, how do you not... really?"

"I know that India was colonized by England, does that help?"

"No, because everyone who's seen _Pirates of the Caribbean_ knows that..." Tooth sighed.

"As much as I am interested in the history lesson – and I am incredibly interested -" Morgan was sure to add, with a promise hanging in her voice to listen to all about Shimla. "We should probably focus on the thing of Nightmares in front of me."

"Well, you have no idea what mountain you're even on!"

"I know where she is," Jack said into her ear, and the sound of wind blowing past as he shifted echoed across the earpiece.

"You can't reveal yourself!" Tooth hissed. "Jack, you know how much he hates you! If he sees you, he'll know something's up! I know the area well, I'll creep around and catch him."

"Tooth, no offense, but even with your gift of flight, I can reach him a little faster."

"Morgan, you stay where right you are!" North sternly said, as a father would scold a child. Morgan sighed and rolled her eyes at the demand.

"I'm sick of sitting around. He's finally here. We have him, and I am not letting him go. Not again!"

"Morgan Paige!" Bunny growled. Several sounds scraped and scratched as the groups movements overlaps, everyone trying to desperately reach her to get to her before she could climb the mountain and do something incredibly ridiculous. She rose, and looked down at the treacherous steep below her. She inhaled the thin air around her and squeezed her eyes tight. Swallowing, she gazed up at the sky, reminding herself to look up, but it proved impossible. Jack may have found a safe little nook in the mount she was on, but the path down was narrow, thin, and several stumblings of rocks below her. It was not as high as other mountains surrounding her, but the incline was very demanding and she bit her lip nervously. The mish mash of noises pounded in her ear as the group rushed to go over her. She heard the sound of bells jingling, knowing that North was preparing the sleigh.

"Morgan, please," Jack begged. "You could get hurt if you try to do this by yourself. You don't have a plan, you're acting on impulse. You just want this guy, an if you have no idea what the hell you're doing-"

"I have a plan. It's attack," Morgan said, sidling her foot across the lumps of snow. She shrieked carefully when she realized what she thought was a snow bank was actually a shark rock awaiting to trip climbers to their death.

"What mountain is she on?" asked Tooth.

"I don't know, how am I supposed to know every single mountain in the Himalayas?" Jack snorted. "I'm not Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, or Nepalese, I'm not a geography expert, and I'm not as old as you."

"... Thanks, make a comment on my age," Tooth scoffed just as more wind whistled and created static through the mics. "But you're the one responsible for the snow on the tops of them every year!"

"I just put the snow there. I don't linger and say 'Hey there, Everest, how's it going? What's it like being the tallest point in the entire world?'" The wind sawed into Morgan's body and the rock under her foot moved. Her balance was lost and she somersaulted into the ravine, but thankfully caught a hold of a white washed boulder in front of her. Morgan brushed away the red liquid on her cheek and grunted at the annoyance of the pain, prickling her with heat. She wobbled when she stood up again, ignoring the shouts at her to stop.

"Morgan, I am begging you to stop," Jack breathed.

"No!" she spat.

"Can't ya see how bloody stupid this is of ya, mate?"

"I don't care!"

"Well, obviously," came the liquid flow of a charmed tone behind her. Morgan shrieked loudly at its familiar call and landed on the rock. She blew a strand of hair from her face and held her Hosta flower out. Pitch dropped his shoulders and froze his face into one of utter frustration. His golden orbs watched her dully. "Really, Morgan?"

"What was that?!" Jack screamed into her air, the wind around his mic whistling harder. Pitch extended his hand to help her up. Morgan drew back, but then looked at the sharp fall into the valley before her and realized how much she was questioning if Guardians could die. She blinked and her trembled arm warned of giving out unless she found something to anchor herself to at that moment, and the only option was the grey hand, cloaked in dreaded night before her. Decided that she at least stood a fighting chance against that, she took the option of using Pitch to pull herself up. She threw her hand over into his just as she screamed louder, and her weight jerked at Pitch's body so he lurched forwards. He heaved and was now nearly horizontal, his chest resting across the jagged boulder Morgan just been trying to use for leverage and failed.

"Baby, what's going on, tell me right this instant!" Jack screamed.

"Do you hear voices?" Pitch asked, carelessly looking around. "They're very quiet. It's almost like a hum."

"MORGAN IS THAT CREEP THERE WITH YOU?!" Tooth shouted into her ear.

"I've got it under control," Morgan said, but when she watched her feet dangle above the valley's divot, she knew that probably wasn't the case at all. Filling her stomach with every breath she could take in the mountain air, she tossed her other hand into Pitch's and he backed up, dragging her body up onto the mountain. Once she was able to pull the rest of herself up, she ripped her hand from his clutches. His smile carved through the malice in his face, enough to offer some genuine concern as he rested his back against a smoother rock.

"What in the world are you doing all the way out here, my dear?" he asked coolly. Morgan tossed her hair out of her eyes and held her plant threateningly to him.

"Take a wild guess."

"Picking flowers?" he taunted. "When someone saves your life, the least you can do is thank them."

"Th-thank... _you_?!" Morgan screamed, her anger breaking through her guard. "I... you save my life and you think that's just going to rid of all the lives you ruined, all the families you broke, all the lives you took! You've killed hundreds!"

"I never killed anyone!"

"Just as well!" Morgan cried. "It's your nightmares and fear that have caused people to be so anxious, so mortified, so depressed that they lose every single bit of hope and it becomes nearly impossible for them to get it back! They turn to so many things to try and bring and end to their distress; robberies, drugs, murder, suicide?! Even if what they're involved in doesn't immediately involve someone dying, it will bring them to their demise in the end! And you were the one who set things in motion for everything! It's your fault all those people died, you murdered them! That's called genocide and-"

"Oh please save me from the history lesson, Morgan!" Pitch groaned. "I don't think you realize how boring your stories are!" For a second, she allowed his words to take to her heart personally, and her words were hindered but the bullet of his voice. "Is it so wrong for me to want love? To be known? To have so many who want to turn to me?"

"You can't make someone love you with fear!"

"Fear is what I am! Fear is all I will ever be! And I can't help that, can I?! If I am fear, does that mean I am never to know a family? Friends?!"

"Fear isn't all bad! Fear is an important part of life, it's what keeps us safe! You can still have a purpose to people, to save them from pulling some stupid stuff and protect them, but that doesn't mean you can use it to control people and rule their lives with it!"

"Morgan, stop it..." Jack hissed into her ear. "We're close by."

"I'm not going to let you cross that mountain."

"How are you going to catch me? I have the power of shadows. What do you have? Water? How is that going to help you cross into China and get out of this mess? I saved you once, that doesn't mean I'll do it again," Pitch smirked. "And newsflash, my dear – you're on Changabang."

"Uh... okay?" Morgan responded with the tilt of her heart. "I'm supposed to understand what that means."

"You have no idea what Changabang is? Geography minor, Jack Frost is her husband, he's around these parts year round, and you don't know what Changabang is?"

"Isn't Changabang that car that can fly in that dumb, unrealistic movie?" Morgan wondered.

"SHE'S ON CHANGABANG?! YOU LEFT HER ON CHANGABANG?!" screeched Tooth so loud, Morgan pulled the ear piece from her head without thinking about what Pitch would think about the tiny mic to her face.

"What the hell is Changabang?!" Jack shouted back.

"AND INCREDIBLY TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN!"

"There was a a nice little niche that she could settle in with a great view, I thought it would be a good lookout point! I didn't expect Pitch to be there, or that she would charge into the action!"

"You couldn't find something on Kalanka or Rish Pahar?!"

"I don't know every mountain in the Himalayas!"

"Morgan, I'm coming for you, I know exactly where you are!"

"What is that thing?" Pitch asked with the disgust clinging to his lips "The others are coming aren't they? They know your location!":

"You think I would have come alone?!" Morgan laughed. "And you think I would abandon my husband?! When will you learn we are never going to be separated, even out in the field?"

"Well, I hoped."

"Never, Pitch. Ever."

"I'm just going to have to ruin the two of you then." Pitch swiped an axe formed of dark sand at her feet, She leapt and cartwheeled away from the impact. From the canteen swung around her torso, she uncapped it and flicked several speeding droplets at his face. The small beads of water were thin enough and moving fast enough that they sliced patterns across his face. He groaned and grasped his face, yelling out in pain. Morgan swept the wind with her Hosta so a stream of more ice bullets flung towards him, They knocked him down and he rolled into the snow. Morgan used her elbow to pin his chest and then held her arm against his throat, forcing him to look up at her. He hissed and kicked up his legs so she launched off and flung backwards, but not before she curled a swirling water globe from the canal of her canteen and lunched it the way a baseball is. Pitch's hooked nose broke it an the water collapsed into his eyes. Morgan rose, pushed aside the blood encrusted hairs that fell in her face and aimed her Hosta in his face. He refused to be intimidated by the plant being plastered in his face. From seemingly behind him, he launched a river of the sparkling black sand and blasted her from the safety of the ledge and barreling her into the far open fall below. Morgan's mouth expanded to release her cries of agony and terror. There was a snapping noise and a sheen of a gold ribbon tightened around her and dangled her over the rocky depths. She sniffled as she looked down at what nearly became her final final resting place. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up the stout man floating on the glittering sand above her. He bowed low to her and slowly pulled on the ribbon to bring her back up. She laughed as Sandy caught her and and scratched her fingers in the jeweled grains that made up his entirety.

"Sandy, you have no idea how much I love you right now!" she cried. From the various angles came the sleigh, North laughing madly as his reindeer galloped on the wind. Tooth buzzed through and let our a war cry, narrowly avoiding the blast of Nightmare sand he fired at her. An egg bomb exploded in Pitch's face just after a flying boomerang had caught his attention. Jack was the one who was heading straight for the ruler of Nightmares, holding his staff in front of him. But Pitch overshot the winter spirit, striking the dream spirit, his blackened arrow cutting through the part of the golden cloud that kept her suspended in the air. Once again she wailed. Jack called out to her, and all the Guardians dove at her just as the figure of Pitch vanished into shadow and clamored over the mountain into China. Morgan refused to watch herself fall. She kept her eyes on the Guardians rushing to catch her. Even if this was true end, she was going to make sure she left the universe looking up.

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**Today I decided to draw a face on a giant rock and leave it on the register at work. His name is Phil. And my manager think I'm nuts. :)**

**Changabang is fun to say. Say it. And I love how crazy Tooth is getting about people not knowing stuff about India. I just enjoy this chapter. You can always leave reviews and let me know what you think :) I'll have another one tomorrow! Rosie out.**


	11. Taking Responsibility

**So I just kept on going with this chapter. It's kind of lengthy, so more fun for you. I like the way this ended. You get to see more of Wendy.**

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The first thing she realized was how much pain she was in. Her lower back exploded with a coursing fire. Her right arm felt stiff, and the ache that held it down was intense, like it was twisting and pushing her arm right into her side until she burst into tears. Her head jostled around blades against her skull every time she made the slightest of movements. And then, all over her body, she felt tiny pin pricks and some deeper pains. Everywhere she thought small, blunt instruments were grinding into her, some more so than others. The crust that glued her eyes together finally snapped and she could flick up her lids. The yellow of the lighting traumatized her pupils for just a second so she only saw green and white spots floating in the air. A few blinks and they dissipated, the light becoming tolerable. Bright blue eyes, weighted by concern, peered through their frame of dark hair dropping in front of Morgan's face.

"Mommy?" said Wendy when her eyes opened. The little girl's smile broke and her pink color flourished in her face again. She leapt forward and grasped her mother's neck and Morgan winced at the touch of her fingers right where there was a gash, and it stung. "Mommy! You're awake!"

"Wendy could you please get off me?!" Morgan hissed, although she was trying to be as polite as possible through the burn of agony. Wendy drew back quickly and scrambled to her side. Morgan realized she was in her and Jack's bedroom, resting under the covers in their four poster bed. She scanned through the bedroom and her eyes rested on Jack on her other side, who was holding out her left arm and running his cool fingers up and down her skin. Three long scratches, jagged and sharp, trailed her arm, and there was a quarter sized bruise. Near her shoulder was taped a white bandage, the outside stained red brown. Currently, Jack's frost patterns on her arm had stolen all feeling from her, but she found she could still move her fingers. Her face fell at the focused look on Jack's face. He didn't greet her with a smile, nor did he even take any notice of her waking up. He just kept rubbing her arm, making sure to cover the marks all over her. "You're going to yell at me, aren't you?"

"Not now, I'm not," he answered carefully, and relieved her heart a little when he glanced up to smirk. "I think the maiming to your body has made it pretty clear what you did wrong and why."

"Ugh, I feel like I've been steamrolled."

"You would have felt worse if Sandy hadn't caught you with his sand and swung you into the ledge rather than the ravine below." From outside the door, there came the sharp barks of a puppy and some boisterous laughing.

"Is everyone here?" Jack nodded as his fingers crept back up and over her arm. Morgan tilted her head so he could get to her neck.

"They're all worried about you. Your arm is torn up, you have a huge gash on your head, I'm not even going to tell you what happened to your back – don't try to touch it, please." Jack begged when she attempted to move her good arm around her back. "And everywhere else are cuts, scratches, and bruises in various sizes. When you're feeling up to it, Wendy and Tooth are going to try and bathe you, maybe that will soothe you a little bit."

"So what happened with Pitch?" Morgan wondered. Jack groaned and then abandoned her arm so she could flex it, discovering that was more difficult to do than she would have thought. Jack pushed the blanket up and began to touch her left calf, leaving trails of ice. She bent her knee so he could get to her leg better. "Jack?"

"He... got away. He's in China," he said.

"It's okay though!" Wendy laughed, peering down at her parents with sparkling gems in her eyes. "Cupid said he thinks he can boost desires and try to work against Pitch's misery and nightmares. That can at least buy you some time."

"Cupid was here?" Morgan asked.

"North sent a report," Jack answered.

"He got me this jacket!" Wendy held out her arms to show off the bolero jacket on her shoulders, a shimmering black with gold trip around the edging and brass buttons to hold it together. On the hems of the sleeves was the same gold trim. It looked somewhat like a marching band jacket that had the bottom cut off, but with a dressier flair to it. "Cupid always gives me the coolest gifts."

"Despite what I tell him," added Jack.

"Daaaaaddddd. Just because he's the spirit of love doesn't mean he's going to flirt or kiss every person he's seen," Wendy groaned. Morgan swallowed and Jack cast a glance over at her.

"Well, actually... you know what. Never mind. I would rather you not know," Morgan started, and then gained a warning look from her husband. She shrieked at the touch of his hands having traveled up to near her hips and he immediately pulled back.

"That's cold!" she yelled.

"Were you expecting Jack Flame?" Wendy teased.

"Hey, a Jack Flame might be hot," Morgan said, and Wendy seemed to find her comment funnier than either one of them because she slipped to the floor, beating her fists against the floor.

"Hot... Flame... Get it because it's... flames are hot...!" Wendy guffawed and Jack smiled at his daughter's amusement. From the other room, they could hear North laughing while Bunny gave an argument of defense. Licorice waddled into the room, scurrying across the floor. His tail moved as much as his tongue did, and Wendy swung him up into her arms.

"Licorice was worried too. He kept licking your face," Wendy said, just as the small dog began to lap her nose in his wet kisses. She laughed wildly at the tickling sensation it left her with. Jack dropped his hands from Morgan's leg and allowed her to try and sit up. She let out a short scream as she sat up and Jack pressed his hands into her lower back, to dull some of the pain while she pulled herself up. She panted, the blankets down settling into her lap. Jack dropped a robe around her shoulders, helping her to fasten it just as footsteps sounded across the floor and stopped in front of the open bedroom door.

"There she is!" North cackled. "You were nearly pancake!"

"Thanks, North, that really helps."

"Morgan, I washed all your dishes and they are spotless and put away!" Tooth told her quickly, hovering over her bed. "Oh, and courtesy of Bunny, your living room is also spotless!"

"Bunny?" Jack teased. "You cleaned?"

"I made him," said Tooth giggled. "He was defiant about it, but it was really funny to see him running a vacuum!" Wendy snickered at the thought.

"So, what are we doing now?" Morgan wondered, Jack pushing the covers aside so he could sit closer to her. She moved her head forward just as he pushed two fingers into the other side of her neck. "About Pitch? I mean he's gone and it's... it's all my fault..."

"You mustn't blame yourself, mate," Bunny told her. "Pitch is an evil ba-"

"Children," Jack warned.

"Baby whiner," Bunny said quickly and Wendy screwed up her eyebrows, trying to figure out where in all the stories she had been told, that the Boogeyman was something like a baby whiner.

"Tooth knew the area, she could have snuck up on him and gotten him, but I... I was so angry and wanted him gone so much... I just reacted, and I put all your lives in danger and my own. I guess I keep forgetting that immortal doesn't always mean invincible..." Jack pushed harder into one of her cuts and she sucked in air through her death. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Oh, I just thought, maybe you need a little reminder once in a while," Jack told her innocently. She tried to lift her bandaged arm to smack him, but quickly discovered how bad of an idea that was. She rolled her eyes at him instead.

"Cupid says he can purchase us time," North responded. "But we need to go back out there! We need to get into China and see if we can track him!"

"Great! I'm sure in three days we can-" Sandy shook his head. Tooth looked around sadly and North didn't seem to have any idea where to focus his attention. Bunny screwed up his face as if he were the one in pain. Jack simply sighed.

"My dear, you're going to be staying here," Jack said.

"But the six of us-!"

"It make harder things, yes," North agreed. "All six of us are needed, but we be okay. You will only be hurt for a little bit, a few weeks I think."

"_Weeks_?!" Morgan screamed. Wendy winced and shuffled her feet anxiously. "What the hell are Jack and I supposed to do for weeks?!"

"You know, Mom, I'm always-"

"It's just you," Jack told her quickly, pressing his hands against her abdomen as she strained too much against the wounds all over her. "We're still going to go out and search for him. You're going to stay here, with Wendy. You have Licorice here too and we can have some of the Yetis look in on you, and I can have the kids come up here, if you like."

"You're going to leave me all alone?" Morgan cried. She turned her body so she was facing him directly and he cleared his throat. "Jack, we're a partnership! You seriously can't-"

"Ya need to understand, Morgan, that it's difficult with five people to face this kind of problem. With four it's impossible! If yer out of commission then Jack cannot remain at home," Bunny explained quickly, although he looked like he was strained in telling her. Wendy watched the group argue, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Mom, it's okay. I can take care of you," she said. "I'll be really good at it! I know a whole bunch of at home remedies! In one of my books, this character named Bartius, he was walking in the woods and his lord had an infection so he found this herb-"

"Enough with your books, Wendy! They are fiction and hold no truth! They would do nothing for me!"

"Morgan!" Jack scolded with a scowl as Wendy retreated back through the door. She wasn't crying, but the water clinging on the edge of her eyes threatened it and her face washed of all its joyful tones. "I know you're in pain and you're upset, but Wendy has nothing to do with it!"

"No, Jack, she's a little bit too imaginative sometimes! She has her head in the clouds and isn't focused on reality!" Wendy's door slammed after she entered it, to block out her parents' yelling.

"How is she supposed to know what reality is when she's stuck up here all the time?! You never let her do anything that is deemed 'realistic' and you want her to live a life that is real!"

"She doesn't understand the gravity of the situation, she has no idea the capabilities of Pitch!" Sandy tried to whistle but realized with annoyance that he couldn't make any noise. Tooth fluttered between the two of them and Bunny couldn't get a word in edgewise. So instead, North simply urged the others to follow him out the door. Morgan and Jack were screaming so loud, they didn't even hear the front door shut when they left.

"She's a child of two Guardians!" Jack yelled harshly. "Who fight him for a living, and she was raised alongside all the other Guardians! And how often have we told her to never let her feel control her?! Of course she has no idea what Pitch can do, she feels pretty well protected! Why else do you think she's never had a nightmare?!"

"And that means she can't keep herself from being educated?! She's ignorant and has no care for the real world stuff!"

"Uh, you keep talking about all this real world stuff..."

"Well, who do you think I am?!"

"The Guardian of Imagination?! Wendy is a literal child of imagination, and fun! How else do you think she's going to act?!"

From across the hall, Wendy tried to use her pink pillow to pull around her head and block out the sounds of her parents screaming at each other. Licorice was seated near her head, whimpering as he sensed her distress. She had only caught snippets of their conversation, much of it being muffled by the weight of the two doors keeping the majority of it out, but she knew it was about her. She could hear the words 'unrealistic,' and 'naïve,' thrown around by her mother and 'child' and 'freedom' thrown around. Wendy had always been a daddy's girl, but never once did she love her mother any less than him. Her relationship with her mother had always been pretty good, despite how she would have liked to see her more, but never had she been so hostile. In her mind, she kept telling herself her mother was upset. She was upset with herself, for starters. Whatever happened seemed to be pointing to her mother's fault although no one was quite coming out saying that. She seemed upset with Pitch getting away. She was in pain. She was stressed. Wendy kept telling herself all of these played into her emotions, but she knew there was still a bit of truth in her words. The last year or so, she had become much more hostile to her. Never truly cruel, but harsh and Wendy didn't understand why. She wanted her to pay more attention to things in history, wanted her to accept more realistic scenarios, stay less attached to the imaginary. Which was pretty odd considering her mother was responsible for igniting and protecting the imagination of children all over the world. Wendy knew everything was connected to Pitch but didn't quite understand how.

Everything was Pitch's fault, and Wendy understood the gravity of everything far more than her mother understood. Her siblings had talked about things happening around them and it always saddened her. Something needed to be done, and she remembered North saying something about five would make it harder. Wendy believed she was a true Guardian child and figured she must have some ability in her that she could fight Pitch with, even if it wasn't awakened yet. Everything happening around her family had started with Pitch and he was the reason they couldn't be truly happy. Wendy made the decision that it was her responsibility to join in the fight for the happiness of the world. While her mother rested, she could take her place. She swallowed hard, realizing how scared she was of the decision she was making, but then remembered her stories and how young many of the brave boys and girls were in the stories. The tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her they were just stories, but then she recalled the worn book on her bookshelf that her parents so often read to her when she was a kid. Wendy Darling, in _Peter Pan_, had been so brave and she was only a few years older than she, and that was who she was named after. Her parents believed there was truth in fiction and they saw so much truth in _Peter Pan. _Even as a child they had believed Wendy's traits were real and could be real, and they named her for those traits. They saw her potential as a baby, or at least that's what they told her. Elizabeth was named for her mother's favorite person in historic; strong, confident, beautiful, brave, and Wendy believed her sister was all of that. So, she figured, she must be at least half of that if she had half the genetics her sister did.

The fighting died down, and there was the gentle whisper they often exchanged after a fight. Wendy groaned, knowing it consisted of a careful talk, "I'm sorrys", "I love yous" and most likely some kissing. There were footsteps and Wendy curled up on the bed holding the dog in her arms as Jack pushed the door open and rubbed his forehead.

"Listen, Wenders," he started.

"I get it," Wendy said quickly. "I know Mom's upset and that not getting Pitch made her mad."

"Well, she didn't mean it," Jack told her as he took the position on her bed. Wendy nodded.

"Still hurt."

"Of course it did Snowdrop. I saw that it did. And she wants to talk to you, but I don't want her leaving the bed. So why don't you go and talk to her before you head to bed?"

"Will you tuck me in when I get back?"

"After your brush your teeth. You know how Tooth gets." Wendy ran her fingers over her teeth nervously and then leapt out of bed, finding her way into her parents' bedroom. When she walked in, Morgan reached out to her and Wendy clamored into the bed with her while she was being cradled.

"My Wendy, I am so sorry that I got so angry like that... I didn't mean it at all... I just am nervous that you don't understand... how bad this is..."

"Sometimes I pretend to ignore situations and be happy because I think it will make everyone else happier. It's called playing make-believe, Mom," Wendy told her and Morgan blinked in surprise at the connection she had made.

"Well, you're very good at it then." Wendy beamed. "I don't want to discourage your imagination. I want you to know I value it and I love how unique you are and how your mind works. I'm just hurt and sad and angry and scared."

"Don't let your fear take control of you, Mom," Wendy repeated, warming her face against Morgan's skin, inhaling the sweet scent of mangoes, vanilla, musk, and ice that often wafted around her. Morgan chuckled and rubbed her daughter's head.

"I love you so much and I hate it when I say those things."

"It will be okay, Mom. I love you too." Wendy kissed her mom good night before heading her father's warning about what Toothiana would do and rushed to the bathroom to quickly brush her teeth. Running back into her room, her father caught her and then playfully threw her into her bed. Wendy laughed as he pulled the covers tight over her so he pretended to trap her. Then Jack nipped her nose and hugged her tight, bading her to have a good night. He stepped out and shut her door tightly. Wendy laid there for several moments, listening to her parents' muffled chatter just beyond the door. Something they said made the two of them laugh and she blew a strand of hair away from her face. It was so strange how fast her parents could go from being at each other's throats and suddenly they were acting like lovesick teenagers again.

The golden ribbon of sweet dreams flowed through her window. Wendy scowled and beat it away from her. Not tonight, she said. She knew Sandy was finishing up his rounds before they headed out, but she was determined to remain awake. It was necessary for her plan. Wendy fought against it, keeping her swats and kicks noiseless. The sand vanished and dropped to floor after ten minutes and she smiled proudly. Wendy decided it would be best to dress accordingly and pulled some red and grey stripped leggings and some ribbed Bermuda shorts out of her closet, and then threw on a baggy t-shirt with various colors and red jacket Pulling on her beloved boots, she then pulled up her hood and covered herself. Wendy yawned and then decided she looked okay. She instructed Licorice to stay there and maybe keep Morgan company before carefully pushing open her door and dressing herself in her outerwear. With barely even a squeak she ventured into the blinding snow of the North Pole. Whoever said the pole was cold had obviously never been to it at night, but the walk to the workshop wasn't that far.

Wendy slipped inside the workshop through the skinny elf door she had discovered years ago and gave her teeth a minute to stop chattering and her body to unfreeze. The walk to the workshop may not have long, but the cold was sharp enough to freeze her entire body on the short walk. Crawling under tables again, she slithered across the floor and then stepped behind a thin wooden wall. The elves gathered around her and laughing excitedly. It was always fun when she was around. Wendy shushed them and urged the dozen of them to gather closer.

"I need to get into North's workshop without being seen. Could you help me?" One elf saluted to her and they led her to the elevator, weaving in and out and around walls and behind tables to avoid the Yetis walking around. The elevator emptied and they escorted her in. She cowered in the corner, her hood pulled up over her eyes. The lift carried her straight down to the location of his shop and the elves quickly whisked her away from the elevators and she dropped her knees. They hopped and leapt while she followed them on her hands and knees. Together, they all walked and crawled under the line of tables. On of the elves told her to wait at the last table while the six of them formed a tower below the door and the topmost one worked on picking the lock. She smiled when it came loose easily and then jumped from her hiding spot towards the door, shutting it behind her.

Wendy took in the ice models he formed of castles, trucks, cars, animals, and musical instruments. There were several chunks of ice near the window that were not yet chiseled and a half chiseled railroad track rested on his desk in the center. She gasped at the rows of books and knickknacks surrounding her. Then she took to the northeast side of the shop and opened the large cupboard. In it were a half dozen rows of the round globes, colored in red and green holiday cheer designs. Wendy picked on up, swirling the fake snow and water around inside it. She thought about China and the Guardians and inside she saw little figures of them flying around and the Great Wall. With a deep breath, she took a moment for it to occur to her what she was really doing and then she threw it right at the door in front of her. The portal opened, it's light dancing and glowing brightly to welcome her. Wendy looked behind her to the elves looking nervous, but giving her a thumbs up. She nodded to them and then stepped forward.

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**So what are the consequences of what Wendy is doing do you think? I am so excited, because this is the point where things really take off and its excited and I can't wait to type more! Unfortunately I must. See you later my lovelies!**


	12. Breaking Down the Tree

**Okay guys, I'm curious to know what kind of stuff you would like to see in this story. I have some gaps in my story and I want to give my readers what they want so please send me a PM and let me know the kind of stuff you would like to see! :)**

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She wasn't entirely clear where she was, but she could tell it was a definitely a big city in China. Thousands of buildings surrounded her, and they had more lights on them that all the Christmas trees in North's workshop. Much of them were tall and incredibly modern, but a few had the accents of traditional Chinese architecture to them. There was a bridge stretching over the river that seemed to be somewhere in between contemporary and traditional Three rounded arches, the middle one the biggest of the three, allowed for ships and boats to pass through underneath it. On top of it, it had the slanted roofs often associated with Asian culture, and it was decorated with hundreds of lights. Somewhere in the distance, Wendy heard a siren going off. Nervously, she looked around at the buildings and walked. The city was incredibly well lit, but she also knew everything her parents taught. Pitch's rule over the word had made the Earth take a turn for the worst, and she was in a big city, alone, at night, and she didn't know it at all. Never before had she been to China, and she wasn't completely sure of its reputation, especially now. Even if it was a good city, with Pitch around, anything could happen.

"No fear," she told herself. "No fear, no fear. Mom and Dad said do not let fear rule you and Pitch can't hurt you." No matter what she told herself she could not push away the tension that was rising up and pushing into her chest. A couple walked past, talking and laughing in Chinese. They glanced over at, most likely curious as to where her parents were. Wendy realized she probably stuck out because of, especially since she was very obviously not Chinese. Quickly, she ducked down the road and hid in an empty alleyway. "Okay, Wendy, what now? If you wanted the snow globe to take you where the Guardians were, that means they probably are nearby. But where? This city is so big..." The smell of a small food shop wafted its smells to her and her nose itched along its aroma. Her stomach gurgled at her but she protested. This was not the time for food.

Wendy leapt across the street, a car honking as she did. Someone yelled at her for not looking where she was going, and she kept telling herself to abide by the courtesies and rules Elizabeth told her to follow when she visited Harrisburg. It was hard to remember though, when she was used to doing whatever she wanted at the Pole. Besides, she always just did what her sister did, never truly learning.  
She found herself in front an apartment building and looked up at the sound of a young boy crying through his window. A tug inside her told her it was her responsibility to attend to the boy. She looked around the building for a way to enter. A large bin stood outside the building and she cringed at what she was about to do. Wendy pulled herself up to the top of the closed dumpster and then made her way across the gap by jumping up and flinging herself to the fire escape. Her arms wobbled while she lifted herself up, but she strained and soon she was able to roll onto the top of it. Wendy began to pound her legs up against the stairs, searching for the window she heard the boy through.

"He's somewhere near," Bunny told them through the mic. "I saw something vanish behind this apartment building. Something dark."

"Keep an eye," Jack said, drifting over the skyline of the city of Chengdu. "Tooth, you're sure he's here?"

"Positive," came her voice through the headset. "I was collecting Teeth earlier and several of the kids in this area were screaming and crying through their dreams. Not only that, the last few hours, the crime and the intensity of arguments and violence has been incredibly high."

"Even if we do not find him, is good city to see," North explained.

"North, nobody can see you. Don't think about trying to order food. Besides, you don't have any money on you."

"What was that?" Bunny said through the headset.

"What was what?" Jack asked, drifting through the wind.

"There's a little kid crying."

"Go Bunny! Maybe we have Pitch."

"Maybe," he muttered.

Wendy stopped in front of the window, spotting a mess of black hair hiding under the blanket. She got closer to the window and saw the eyes of the young boy, just a few years younger than she was. He was crying and trying to cower below the blanket. She wrapped her hands around her legs and then tapped on the glass of his window. He yelled out when he saw her, but Wendy threw up her hands quickly. She tried to speak to him, but he only blinked.

"Okay, either you can't hear me, or you don't speak English." She gestured to him to open the window. He shook his head, but she was quickly persistent. Eventually, he carefully left his bed and cautiously opened the window. Wendy swung her legs in and jumped into his room. Once in the room, she heard the screaming of a couple, but she wasn't clear what was being said. Wendy turned to the distressed boy who wiped his nose and tried to wipe away the sobs in his eyes, but the tears kept on coming. She was reminded of the situation that happened earlier at home, and felt a little sick herself with memory,

"I know how you feel," she sighed, and he cocked his head. "Can you understand me?"

"Speak English?"

"I do. Do you?"

"Little."

"Listen, I'm a friend, okay? I'm not here to hurt you. I want to tell you that you don't have to be afraid."

"American?" he guessed.

"Uhhh... well my mom is. I mean, that's where she grew up. I think my Dad grew up in Scandinavia somewhere, but I mean that was a long time ago. So I mean kind of. Not sure. I'm kind of North Polian. If that's a thing. Otherwise, I don't really know what to call myself." There was a crash as something hit the wall outside and the boy yelled, scrambling up into Wendy's arms. She took him and realized herself she was a little scared.

"Okay, I don't know how you feel," she retracted. "My parents never threw anything at each other. What are they fighting about."

"Daddy. Other women."

"Your dad was with other women?" He held up three fingers. "Three?! Okay, I definitely don't understand anymore. My parents never... look, it's not their fault. And it's not your fault. There's a Boogeyman, okay? And he's giving you all these nightmares, and your parents nightmares and it's making them hopeless and scared and wild. But you need to fight it! You need to show him that you're not afraid of him!" The boy blinked at her, giving her a blank look. "You didn't understand half of what I said, did you?"

"Bad English," he explained.

"Well, I don't know Chinese, so that's a problem... do you know who Santa Claus is? How about the Easter Bunny? And the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman?" His eyes lit up with a sense of familiarity with her words. "What about Jack Frost?"

"Snow," he associated.

"Yeah, that's right, he brings the snow. Anyway, that's my dad. And do you know who Morgan Barry of Make-Believe is?"

"Uhhh..."

"It's okay, she's only been a spirit for ten years, not a lot of people know her yet. Anyway, she's the one who leave dew drops in the morning, and she brings mist and humidity. She's my mom. She's not actually here because she got hurt, but everyone is! And they're coming, and they're going to protect you..." The yelling from the other room rose and the boy whimpered. Wendy bit her lip, realizing not letting your fear control you may be a little harder than she thought it would be.

"There's some mighty angry yellin' going on in the apartment above me... who opened the window?" Bunny whispered.

"What window?" Jack asked.

"I coulda sworn... never mind, probably just imagin' things. I'm going to check it out."

"Tooth, are you still patrolling the East side of the city."

"Yeah, but I haven't found anything."

"Sandy is in position above bridge!" North said. "Making sure kids and adults have sweet dreams."  
Wendy kept her hold on the boy while he wept and the yelling got louder. Never before had she heard a couple so angry with each other. She couldn't believe that anything in the world would make them suddenly decide to hate each other so much. She knew that cheating on somewhere was vile, and understood why the woman was mad with him, but all the couples she had seen never had been that cross with each other. Her parents were never that mad, not even with her. This couple was getting nearly violent, and she had to admit, she was terrified. Her fear pulsated and she wanted to just flee and be away from it, but she could not abandon the boy. He was scared and he needed somewhere there for him.

In the corner of the room, the flooring fell in and there appeared a hole. In the hole, flowers and moss covered the dirt inside. From the edge of the sudden depression, fuzzy grey paws appeared. Then the rest of the rabbit jumped out of the hole.

"Túzi!" shouted the little boy as the oversized rabbit dressed in his warrior garb looked at them. Then his green eyes grew large when he spotted Wendy standing in front of him.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Bunny shouted at her, waving his boomerang around her dangerous.

"Bunny, what's happening?" Tooth's voice came over the mic.

"HOW DID YOU- YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT HOME?!"

"Bunny, did Morgan leave the house and decided to come along?!" Jack screamed into the device wrapped around his head.

"No, Mate, it's much much worse! It's Wendy! She's in the kid's room."

"WHAT?!" yelled Jack, changing direction and zipping through the wind. "STAY RIGHT THERE! I AM COMING IN."

"Mate, you are in so much trouble..."

"Give her the headset, Bunny." There was a little bit of static and clicking as he handed over the headset.

"Hi... Dad..." she whispered carefully.

"WHY AREN'T YOU AT HOME?!"

"Well, mom couldn't come and fight and I know you said it's hard with five people and... well, I thought maybe... you know, some day I am going to be a Guardian too, but maybe my powers will come out and I can-"

"YOU DON'T HAVE POWERS!"

"I know that, Dad, but maybe if I'm like, in a situation where I am facing off an enemy, they'll come early! Like in that one book of mine-"

"No, Wendy, you don't understand... I am coming for you, and I am taking you home! How did you even get here?!"

"Snowglobe..." she carefully said.

"Snowglobe... my workshop?!" North bellowed.

"The elves..." Wendy bit her lip in saying.

"It doesn't matter, you are going home right now, little lady!" Jack instructed as he landed near the apartment building.

"No!" Wendy shouted.

"What did you just say?"

"I said no! I am not leaving! I am not leaving this little boy! He's terrified, his parents are at each other's throats! All you and mom do is protect the children of the earth, and that's what I am doing! I am carrying out the legacy! This is what I grew up with, and this is what I am doing!"

"You're a child yourself!"

"Doesn't matter! You can't make me!"

"WENDY EMMA BARRY OVERLAND FROST-" Wendy ripped the headset from around her and tossed it aside.

"I think I'm the only person in the world with three last names," she groaned, showing no guilt for what she just did. The little boy still huddled in her grasp looking between the Bunny and Wendy. "Uh, it's okay, everything's going to be fine. I should probably go now... um... but remember what I said. Don't be scared and... we'll protect you." She tapped his head quickly and Bunny thumped his foot twice against the floor. Wendy felt her arm being jerked by Bunny and he pulled her down the tunnel. It was a short tunnel, simply opening right outside the apartment. The ground opened up and Wendy jumped out, dusting off the dirt from her jacket. Bunny rolled his eyes as he situated the headset around his large, pointed ears, growing annoyed.

"Yes, she threw the headset away... I don't bloody well know, she's not my daughter..." he yelled. Wendy dragged her foot across the ground nervously and concentrated on picking at her thumbnail. "Yeah, I see ya mate." Bunnymund gave her a sort of sympathetic scowl. "He wants you to stay right here."

"I figured..." she sighed, and then looked up to see the winter spirit gliding around. She shuddered at the look in his eyes. He was not happy with her, and she knew this was going to be worse than all the other times she had gotten in trouble.

Jack skipped on the wind until his bare feet touched the ground, and even then he kept on moving, rushing right to where they stood outside the apartment building. He approached her and she pursed her lips, her forehead wrinkling from her deep concern.

"Wendy..." he growled. "You are not supposed to be out here!"

"Why not?"

"It's dangerous, that's why! I thought we made that perfectly clear..."

"Uggghhhh! I don't get you! You guys are so concerned about me being realistic, but then I throw myself in the real world and you get all worked up about it and say you don't want me in it!"

"That isn't what we meant," Jack scoffed, and then he dropped to his knees in front of her, his furious expression turning into something a little more worrisome and endearing. "Wendy, the reason we keep you at home is because it's too dangerous out here. We know how to do our job, you don't. You're nine."

"Almost ten," she corrected.

"Okay, almost ten. And you're... you're not a Guardian."

"Yet," she felt she needed to add. "I will be one day."

"That's not up to us, that's up to the Moon," he quickly said.

"Well, I think as a child of two Guardians, I don't know why I shouldn't be..." Wendy felt the need to throw in. Jack stammered awkwardly, trying to think of a way to respond to that.

"Excuse me..." came the whisper of a smooth tone, gentle and pulling. Out of the corner of the apartment building stretched a long shadow. It shaped into a man and then it took on the grey face and golden eyes, wearing an expression with a mix of malice and charm. The shadow it had taken thickened to create the flowing cloak as black as his heart. Pitch Black stepped forward. Jack instinctively stepped in front of the little girl, and Bunny took his side. Jack with his staff armed, Bunny with a boomerang in one hand and the other clutching the egg bomb tucked in the belt around his waist.

"Jack, what's happening, is Wendy okay?" came Tooth's desperate voice.

"I'm with her right now... and Pitch is here too."

"Pitch?!" came North's voice. "We come to you. Sandy! Tooth! Let us go!" Jack pulled off his head set and tucked it in his jacket pocket before pointing his staff threateningly at the Boogeyman in front of them.

"Leave this apartment alone!" Wendy felt the need to shout, struggling to break past her father and the large rabbit, but they closed they gap between them. "Dad, come on!"

"Dad?!" Pitch scoffed. "You know, I thought I had heard you addressing her as if she were your own child... and something about the child of two Guardians, but I didn't think that could be right at all... but... yet here she is... well hello, my dear. I don't believe we've ever had the pleasure of meeting." His lips curved into that sly smile and he held out his hand, taking on the personality of a kind new friend. "My name is Pitch."

"I know who you are! I know all about you! You're Pitch Black! You're the Boogeyman, you almost killed my mother, and you're trying to-"

"Quiet, Wendy. Please," Jack said, using the end of his staff to push her back. Then he jabbed Pitch in the chest with the hooked end. "You do not talk to her."

"I was simply saying hello," he answered dully. "You know, Jack, I could have stayed hidden if I wanted. But this little girl is so charming... It's interesting that you say she's your daughter..."

"She is!" he barked.

"Tell me, please... explain to me how she was conceived."

"Uh, what is this?" Bunny asked suddenly, giving the Boogeyman a dirty look. Bells jingled merrily just as the sleigh began to pull in. Tooth fluttered down to them and on golden rivers arrived Sandy. The reindeer slowed their trot and North jumped out of his sleigh, all the Guardians forming a ring of protection around Wendy. There was not an ounce of fear struggling in Wendy. She knew the Guardians were tough, and well trained in fights against the Boogeyman. She knew they would protect her and she knew Pitch could not hurt her so long as she did not give in to fear. At the moment, Wendy was perfect okay, and was looking at her father with a kind of admiration. She was excited to get the chance to watch him kick his behind, and maybe throw in a few hits herself.

"Really?" Jack laughed awkwardly. "Honestly, Pitch, if I have to explain that to you-"

"Oh, I don;t mean that!" He sighed. "I've been a father too, Jack, I understand _that_ bit! What I mean is, how is it possible she was born to you when spirits can't get pregnant?"

"You're pushing it, Pitch," Jack told him lowly, but glancing nervously at Wendy. His neck was growing tight with the pressure being put on him about what Pitch was trying to say. Jack's mouth was growing dry. His throat was tightening and everything in him was screaming at Pitch, more so than ever before. He aimed his staff higher and hoped something in the vile look he was giving him would force him to stop.

"I'm just trying to understand... did I hear her right when she said she expects she'll be a Guardian because her parents are? She isn't really your child, is she?"

"You're a liar!" Wendy screamed through them. "I am their child, I really am!"

"Then why could that boy see you?"

"Because I haven't become a spirit yet, that's why! One day when the moon decides that I'm-"

"Oh you stupid child, do you have any idea who your parents are? It's possible for to have been born from them! Besides the fact that your father is completely frozen – and you probably won't understand that for a couple of years yet – your parents are _dead_!"

"Shut up!" Jack screamed.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard! They're standing right there!"

"Wendy, baby, just leave it, okay? He doesn't know what he's talking about. North, take her home, and I'll deal with him-"

"I do know what I am talking about!" Pitch seethed. "Wendy, your name is? Hasn't your father ever told you about how they became spirits? Your father drowned saving his sister, and your mother inhaled smoke from saving kids in a fire! The moon saved them because he saw they were oh so special and had traits to save kids! Both of them are dead! Your mother's body cannot change because she is dead, therefore she cannot grow heavy with a child, and cannot give birth to one! We won't even get into why your father can't give your mother a child, save that for when you're older..." Wendy screwed up her face and Jack just looked at her to stop thinking about it. But Wendy realized how little she knew about her days as a baby. Never where there any pictures of her mother being pregnant. Things just didn't feel real familial with her and her siblings, nothing seemed to quite add up with her parents as Guardians, and who she was.

"Dad?" Wendy whimpered. "When did you and mom get together? I mean really together. When she became a spirit."

"Um, May of that same year."

"Dad, my birthday's the fourth of January..." Wendy whispered carefully, her mind moving as she added the months up in her brain. Jack lowered his staff for a moment, when he realized what Wendy was doing. He watched her calculate on her fingers. Of course she would know pregnancy lasts nine months. She was old enough for that. When her eyes dropped to the ground, his heart went with them and crashed so it splintered. Something tightened around his chest and he was pleading in his head for her to stop calculating. "I'm not... your kid... am I?"

"Of course you are!" Jack said, forgetting about Pitch for a second and throwing aside his staff. He dropped to his knees and placed his hands on her. Her face looked away from him, the bottom lip sticking out. Then, she began to hyperventilate. Her chest heaved and the tears began to spill out. "Listen, Snowdrop, a family isn't always about blood! Look, we'll talk about it when we get home, but right now-"

"I'm adopted?! All this time, you lied to me! You never once said... and mom is so big on not lying... and I'm... I'm a human?! I'm just an average, normal human!? And Elizabeth and Nathan aren't my sister and brother?! And you and mom are _dead_?! You have to _die_ to be a Guardian?! What else don't I know?! How did you get me? Where did I come from?! Where is my real mother?!"

"Wendy, no, no, no..."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it! You can fight your war with Pitch! I'm just going to act like every human child who hates her parents!"

"Hates... WENDY!" The dark haired girl took off, breaking from the group. "WENDY COME BACK!"

"A good night to you then..." Pitch cackled and then his body vanished into shadow once again.

"Pitch! You-" Jack waved his staff around, but there wasn't anything there anymore

"We'll go after him," Tooth explained quickly as North took to the sleigh again. She placed her dainty emerald and turquoise hand on Jack's frosted shoulder. "You go find your daughter. She looks like she made down that street down there. And go home. So you can talk." Jack nodded, not even wanting to argue. For all he cared, for that one night, Pitch could have the whole world. He just wanted to make sure Wendy was going to be okay.

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**And this is where my plot really takes off. The city I am describing in this chapter is Chengdu and the freaking bridge is amazing looking. Guys, I am not happy. I worked til 9 tonight and I have to start work at 8 tomorrow. THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME A HAPPY CAMPER. Ahem. So I hope you liked this chapter even if it made you stressed beyond belief. See you tomorrow! But probably not the day after that. I'm going over to my friends :) See ya later my lovelies!**


	13. Tell All

**This is a very dialogue heavy chapter. I actually thought about making Wendy a little more resentful, but I think at her age she would be a little more forgiving. Besides that, it would just be another thing to add on top of what I am planning to do because I would need to carry it out.**

* * *

Jack jumped up into the wind and drifted on its breeze. Being small and walking on foot in an area she didn't know, it wasn't hard to find Wendy walking through the streets. When he spotted her he immediately turned sharply and landed in front of her. She turned around him and kept on trying to move forward.

"Wendy, stop," he instructed as he jogged to catch up with her.

"No," she sobbed.

"Where are you going to go? You're in China, you're a few thousand miles away from everything you know!"

"Go fight Pitch! That's what you always want to do, right?"

"Not tonight. I don't care about Pitch right now. The others can't handle him tonight."

"But they can't catch him."

"They can delay him. And we've got Cupid working too. Please, Snowdrop, just... let me take you home. Your mother and I will talk there..." Jack begged with her, reaching for her hand. But Wendy didn't want to be touched. She ripped her arm from him and kept on trying to walk away again. A short burst of wind picked Jack up and he landed right in front of her, holding out his arms so she could not venture any further.

"You're in a big city that you don't know. You're a young girl, and as far as anyone knows you're by yourself. Do you really think I'm going to let you keep on walking?" Jack said. Wendy did not seem to be able to find anything to argue her point, so she scowled at the ground and crossed her arms. She had nothing to say, but didn't want to give up her stubbornness. While Jack waited for her to say something, the wrinkles on her forehead flattened and she looked to her father with the moisture beginning to well in them.

"Why did you hide it...? Why was it... for all those years you let me believe I was... special."

"You are special..."

"Ugh, that's not what I mean, Dad..." she groaned. "Or... whatever."

"Your mother and I will explain everything," he promised. "But let me take you home first, please? It's dangerous out here, especially with Pitch on prowl. Please, Wends." With an incredibly dramatic roll of her head to accompany the motion of her eyes, she held out her arms and waited for Jack to take a hold of her. He knelt down and she crawled onto his back, holding on with expert knowledge of how tight to cling to her father. Wendy was silent the whole way back, and it was just enough time for the tightness he felt to grow tighter and create a sensation of nausea. They reached the house and everything was dark and silent, until Licorice was awakened and began to bark excitedly. From the bedroom, Morgan shouted at the dog fiercely. Wendy picked him up and stroked him several times until he quieted again and nestled in her arms. She stripped of her cold outerwear and followed Jack into her parents' bedroom.

"Jack?" Morgan yawned, struggling to sit up in bed from the pain of all her minor wounds. "Wendy, what..."

"She knows, Morgan," Jack simply said.

"Knows?" Morgan whispered, and her mind flashed several things she had not told her daughter over the years, most of them being things she probably should not know about until she was older. "Uh, explain."

"I know I'm not your daughter..." Wendy whispered carefully. In the silence that was created by her admission, her feet could be heard clicking together, and the shifting of Morgan's blanket was the loudest noise in the whole room.

"Jack, would you like to explain to me how this whole revelation came about?" she asked patiently, trying to decide to yell or not.

"Bear in mind that before you start screaming your head off and scolding her, that Morgan could essentially do the same thing for keeping secrets and lying about it. And need I remind you who was the one of us who hates lying?" Morgan's guilt froze her as she thought about what he said, realizing that he was correct and that probably was not the message to send to her child. "Wendy wanted to help go catch Pitch, so she snuck into the workshop and stole a snowglobe-"

"_What_?!"

"Morgan, please," Jack said to her just as she was beginning to construct how best to shout at her. "Remember what I said. She ran into Pitch there-"

"You did?!" Morgan forgot all about her bruises and cuts for a second and slipped out of bed, stumbling as she did in order to reach her daughter and touch her face. "Are you okay?! What did he do?" But Wendy simply stepped away from her, unsure how to react around her anymore. Morgan let her hand drop, cut from her reaction.

"Pitch heard her call me Dad and broke down about how it's not possible for us to have kids because we're dead and when I didn't deny it... she tried to get away from me. So now she knows. I told her we would talk to her about it."

"Pitch knows who Wendy is and knows of her existence?" Morgan asked from where she sat on the floor. Jack nodded in response.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no," Morgan whispered.

"Why?" came the broken whisper from the damaged girl. Jack helped his wife back to the bed and then tapped the mattress for Wendy to come onto to bed. She was hesitant at first, but then padded over to them. Jack lifted her, placing her right between the two of them. She placed her hands in her lap and waited for them to begin talking.

"Tooth found you," Morgan started. "We were coming back from our honeymoon and she found you. You needed a home and you weren't dropped off at a church or an adoption center so to the rest of the world you didn't seem to exist, which meant we could take you and no one would worry or be concerned or come looking for you."

"Your mother had kids from her first marriage, but we wanted our own child to raise. And you just seemed to arrive, as if you were meant for us," Jack said carefully, patting her knee.

"But why the secret?"

"I want you to realize that we never lied to you," Morgan quickly said. "All the stuff you seemed to come up with on your own."

"Isn't that just as bad as lying?" Wendy said, and Jack gave Morgan a look that was a little more hostile than it should have been. Her face whitened and she allowed the drop of her head to expose her feelings on it.

"Yes, it is. Parents make mistakes. Sometimes really big ones. We thought... if we hid it from you... you would be less willing to be out in the real world and not be so defiant about it."

"That plan really worked!" Jack scoffed with sarcasm.

"Jack."

"Sorry, I was trying to make a joke," he said. "Listen. We... we hoped that... if we kept you away from the world... when you were born, that was when things with Pitch were starting and we knew it would get worse. And it got worse as you grew up. We wanted to keep you away from the things happening, and planned to tell you when we defeated Pitch. Most of all, we didn't want him to know you existed. All your life, you've been very good and not letting fear control you – to an almost dangerous point. You don't even let it speak wisely to you when you're being rebellious. That worked well for us, and even though we never wanted you to become so trained in controlling your fear that you can break the rules without much thought, you have properly figured out how to avoid his clutches."

"He might have sensed your fears a time or two, but never made the connection about being our daughter," Morgan concluded.

"And you've never had a Nightmare your whole life," Jack said. "I'm really afraid that's going to change. He knows who you are and where you live and that's... concerning."

"Maybe it wasn't right," Morgan said. "And it's actually my fault. I convinced Jack to keep it from you." She paused and waited for some sort of response. Then she crossed her arms and looked over Wendy's head. "No response?"

"What? It was you fault."

"Sometimes I just want to hit you." Wendy tried to hide the giggle her parents were forcing out of her. They both exchanged smiles, but also tried to hide it.

"So... where did I come from then? You just said 'Tooth found me'. How did she find me? What was I doing?" Morgan pursed her lips, trying to think of the best way to answer. Jack shook his head, telling her that the lies were done and they couldn't keep things from her anymore. Sighing with agreement, she continued.

"Wendy, darling... we..." she brushed aside Wendy's dark locks and looked right into the sapphires of her expecting and hoping eyes. She crushed her lids shut so she wouldn't need to look in her daughter's eyes. "Tooth found you. Thrown away."

"Thrown?" Wendy gasped, but with more confusion than disgust.

"In a dumpster," Jack answered. "It's happened, unfortunately, to so many kids. Parents... mothers mainly... they have the kid and for one reason or another decide they don't want it and instead of dropping it off somewhere where someone is sure to find it they... throw it in with the trash."

"But that – that – that -" Wendy stuttered, her face gone so white her dark brown hair appeared nearly black plastered to her face. Her chest rose deeply and she looked around frantically. "That's horrible! Why would anyone do that?!"

"I know, I know..." Jack shushed, holding her to his chest. He stroked the top of her head and kissed her lightly. "It is horrible, and I don't know why but... when Tooth found you, it was the middle of winter and-"

"I could have died! What kind of parent... not even parent, _person_ just lets their kid die like that?!"

"This is another reason we were afraid to tell you," Morgan added. "We didn't want you to... know that you were..."

"And you have no idea who did it?"

"None," Jack said. "Quite frankly, I'm okay with that. I might not be so nice to the woman who did that. Most likely it was a woman, anyway. Might have been the father. You never know."

"So my birthday..."

"Is a guess," Jack said. "Tooth said you were a couple of days old, and it was January 6th when we received you, so we celebrate it on the fourth. We don't actually know if that's your real birthday, but there is no way you were born before the first." Wendy looked up at her father's face as he continued to hold her. She glanced at her mother's hand in her grasp and thought about her life. It wasn't perfect. She had no friends, she didn't get to do everything Elizabeth and Nathan did. There was still a lot about the world below her that she didn't understand that much, and she thought her parents were overprotective. But at least she finally understood why they were so overprotective. It may not have been right entirely, but she just knew they were trying to keep her out of harm's way. They embraced her individuality and her odd interests, something she grew to learn from books and the rest of her family didn't always happen. She was raised in a universe she loved, and given so much fun. Her parents had rough jobs and she wanted them home more, but she knew it was not their choice to be gone so much. She understood the importance of what they did, even more so now. Sometimes her life felt like it sucked, but through it all and everything she was told, she knew everything was done because she was loved and cared for. Even if wasn't the best idea, they just wanted to make she was safe as well as happy. Wendy teared up as she thought about it.

"Okay," she wept.

"Okay?" Jack said hopefully.

"I don't want to know my real mom. If she threw me away so easily, I don't want anything to do with her," she agreed aggressively. "But you guys I mean... you gave me a life, and... I think some of the stuff you did was stupid and I wish you never kept it from me. But I get it. And... I'm very lucky to have parents who care so much about it. Especially after... finding out about so many parents who don't." Wendy frowned and nuzzled her dad, who tousled her hair. Morgan squeezed her daughter's hand. "Pitch said you two had to die to become Guardians... could you tell me how that worked?"

They stayed up all night with her and didn't leave out a thing. Jack gave her the full account of the ice breaking and saving his sister and how he received the double whammy of drowning and freezing. He told her his story of becoming the Guardian of Fun and how Jamie was his first believer, and the fight with Pitch that happened around it. He explained how Wendy's middle name was his sister's first name, and how they would have gotten along a little too well. Morgan told her story about dying in the fire and how saving those kids transformed her into a spirit and then a Guardian.

"So... you and Hamilton... didn't divorce?" Wendy concluded.

"No, I... died," Morgan chuckled.

"That would explain why he's so friendly to you," Wendy teased. "And why it drives Dad nuts."

"Hamilton understands," Morgan said carefully as she watched Jack try to keep from laughing.

"Of course he does, that's why he doesn't do anything. But he wants to! Wait, so were Jack and Hamilton your only boyfriends then?"

"Uhh..." Jack reclined against the pillow and gestured for her to keep on talking. "No, they weren't. Tristan was my first when I was thirteen. And I went to prom with a guy my senior year, but that didn't last, and there was a guy named Liam and college."

"Geez!" Wendy said. "You dated a lot, huh?"

"Not really. There were a lot of people I knew who dated more than I did. If Linda had her way, she would have dated over a dozen men."

"More than dated – ow!" Jack reacted to the gentle slap Morgan tossed to him.

"I only seriously dated four people. Tristan, your father, Liam, and Hamilton. And you know all about the dance your father and I had."

"But the guy you went to the dance with... was he the only guy you spent time with that you didn't date?" Her question triggered the scenarios of the two men she had a little tryst with she never wished to tell her daughter about, but ignoring her question would only push forth more lies on her and she didn't want to do that again. She grew frigid, and it wasn't from Jack's presence in the room. He had a different sort of cold air to him that was different than what she felt now. Her chest hardened with the tension of the memories and she let out a long breath of air, dreading talking about it.

"The reason I have been much more protective about your against Pitch than your father is because... I know how easy it is in to fall into that."

"What does that have to do with the question...?"

"Because Pitch is disgusting and for a very brief period of time made me believe he had a crush on me and kissed me."

"EW!" Wendy gagged, burying her head in Jack's lap. "MOM! THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

"Yeah, it is," said Morgan. "But before I get into that, I want to tell you what Pitch did so you can understand..." And from there she launched into the story of when Jack had gone to Antarctica for the summer, and Pitch had manipulated her and pretended to be her friend. Wendy listened with full interested, nodding and showing that she believed everything she said, and then proceeded to make the appropriate faces of disgust when she reached the point in the story where Pitch made out with her, and then added to make Wendy even sicker, about how old she was and how old Pitch was when he was conquered by the Fearlings.

"Isn't that illegal?" Wendy asked.

"I guess if you want to get technical about it, as the Boogeyman is supposed to be an imaginary character, then no, because the rules don't apply to us. But, yeah. It's wrong. Completely one hundred percent wrong and gross and disgusting and revolting."

"And if anyone that much older than you ever does anything to you, spirit or human, I will personally find them and freeze their a-"

"JACK!"

"Sorry, but I will."

"Well, you wouldn't be the only one."

"Don't worry, mom, I'm smart," said Wendy.

"Sometimes I forget you're only nine," said Jack.

"Almost ten!" Wendy corrected, and then looked out the window to see the sun beginning to peak over the white vastness. "Was there anyone else mom?"

"There was," Morgan quickly said. "And I promise some day I will tell you all about it. But for now, if it's okay, I don't want to because it... it involves something that I don't want you to know until you're a few years older. Something that you shouldn't know." Wendy eyed her suspiciously. "If it makes you feel better, Elizabeth didn't find out til she was eleven. And Nathan was about twelve, I think."

"Oh. Okay. But you'll tell me sometime, right?"

"Yes. But I can say that it involved Cupid."

"_Uncle Cupid?!_"

"Yes."

"Why does she keep insisting on calling him uncle?" Jack moaned regretfully while Wendy nodded.

"I understand. He's handsome. And he has a tendency to make lots of girls and some guys pretty flirty. Especially Aunt Linda and Uncle Brad."

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Jack asked when he rolled his head over to her, hoping to send some sort of telepathic message about wanting her to go to bed so Morgan could rest more. She pushed her lips together in thought and then shook her head.

"Oh, there is one more thing I want to say!" said Wendy. "Now that I know that I'm... human and have no powers or anything and there's nothing that would keep me from walking around, um... when Elizabeth has her birthday and I go to visit, I was wondering if... I could stay. A week? I want to think about all of this and... maybe just... be human for a bit?"

"You want to stay a week?" Morgan asked.

"Well, I also thought maybe you could fight Pitch without worrying about me that time. And I'm sure you would like some time to be a couple..."

"Yes, that seems like a fair deal," Jack answered before Morgan could even open her mouth. However, she didn't seem to argue at all, and smiled a little, although she looked a little worried. "Just remember what we told you..."

"I promise I'll listen," said Wendy.

"To Hamilton or Elizabeth?" Morgan asked. Wendy gave her an innocent grin.

"I said I would listen mom. I didn't say to who."

"I knew it..." Wendy giggled and then kissed both of her parents. Jack made the sound of rushing wind as he picked her up and zoomed her down the hall to where her bedroom was, throwing her into the bed until she struggled to breathe from laughing so hard. He pulled the covers tight up to her chin and then touched her forehead.

"I just want you to know that... blood only determines who you're related to. Family is formed by bond. Which is why Linda is your aunt. She and Morgan aren't sisters in blood, but they are in bond."

"You're still my dad," said Wendy. "And I will always believe you."

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**Lately, these events have happened in just a few weeks, but soon I'm going to speed through months like I did with the first one. Don't forget to tell me if there's something in particular you want to add in the story. It can't be a huge plot device as I have the plot fleshed out, but if it's something like a scene or a reaction to something or a subject or even something as small as an object in the room. See ya guys when I can! :) Rosie out.**


	14. Normal Atmosphere

**This is actually one part of a very long chapter, but I'm making it into two because it was incredibly long. I've given you long chapters before but it was too long. So you get two chapters tonight! Hooray for you!**

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At the end of October, Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway of the Barry house as Morgan conversed lightheartedly with Hamilton. Wendy was waiting patiently, her arms wrapped around the gift they had gotten Elizabeth. A sharp chill blew through and Wendy pulled up the collar of her jacket quickly.

"Did you do that?" she asked Jack.

"Didn't try to," Jack answered honestly. Wendy looked to Hamilton and her mother, swallowing sharply. She knew that sometimes the cold was controlled by Jack's emotions and was wondering if this had anything to do with it. Since learning that Hamilton and Morgan actually didn't end things, she was unsure how to feel about it. "Don't worry about it, it's just instinctual. I trust your mother, and I trust Hamilton. He's been a good friend for years."

"I've always felt strange around him," Wendy muttered.

"That's normal," Jack told her, tapping his finger playfully against her nose. "You, Nathan, Elizabeth share a mother, but not a father. So it's understandable... you sure you want to stay here a week?" Wendy breathed in quickly, and looked up at Hamilton, who was currently glowing at the way Morgan was laughing at him. Her stomach clenched and for a second she just wanted to run off. Then she thought about this big opportunity she was getting and how long she had been wanting to be in the real world. Suppressing the knot with the drawing of breath, she nodded, flashing him a bright smile. The enthusiastic yelling of the other kids encouraged her even more, and suddenly she was bubbling with energy. "Okay. Come on, give your old man a hug."

"Old man?" Wendy snickered, wrinkling her nose as she received his embrace. "Have you looked in a mirror lately, Dad? If anything, Mom's the old one."

"Excuse you!" Morgan scoffed, while Hamilton could not contain his gentle laughter from Wendy's comment.

"Well, you are almost twice his age..." she told her with an innocent smile.

"Appearances only!" Morgan jokingly scolded and then scooped Wendy up so she squealed.

"Hey, you should be happy you're going to be 28 forever," Hamilton said, and then pulled on the skin below his eyes. "Look at these bags! I'm forty, Morgan!"

"And yet I still think you're looking good..." she laughed. Jack mulled over whether or not to feel threatened by that comment.

"Give it another ten years."

"We'll see." There was a scuffling as the kids ran across the linoleum in the kitchen and Hamilton turned back to shout at them to be more careful. Elizabeth escaped from the chaos to step into the doorway.

"Bess!"

"Hi mom!" she said and welcomed the hug she gave her.

"You're sure you're okay with me not coming today?" Morgan questioned again.

"I told in the letter and I told you over the phone when you were at Linda's, I'm okay," Elizabeth said with exasperation.

"So, what do thirteen year olds have at parties now? Alcohol?" Jack teased and Morgan looked at him with horror. "I'm kidding! It's a joke!"

"I'm rebellious, not stupid, Jack," said Elizabeth with a wink.

"I would rather you weren't the former as well," Hamilton said lowly.

"Psshh, what's the fun in that?"

"Do I need to remind you about the police station?"

"That's a hilarious story to tell! And you know she overreacted!"

"Okay, you can continue killing each other... or whatever it is you're doing... what are you doing anyway?"

"Trying to kill each other," Elizabeth said cleverly. "Thomas and I were in another wrestling match. Now he and Nathan are at it."

"For crying out loud," Morgan said with an aggravated sigh, but there was a smile underneath it. "None of my kids are normal..."

"My mother is a spirit, married to the spirit of winter, chases after the Boogeyman, is best friends with the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, Santa Claus, and all of us believe in all of them and you expect us to be normal?"

"Touche, Bess..."

"LIZZIE!" shouted someone from the inside. Her eyes burned as she turned to the nickname she despised so much more than anything on the planet.

"Okay, who called her Lizzie?" Jack shouted back.

"I hope you're ready to see your own blood!" Morgan said and Wendy laughed happily.

"Are we going to have a Handless Cake Eating contest again?" Wendy asked her sister, and she forgot her anger at the nickname, her face flushing with pink.

"Yes! I will dethrone Cecil from his seat as three time reigning champion!"

"Do me a favor and clean up this time!" Hamilton said.

"I'll think about it – You're going to get it Thomas!" Elizabeth ran back just as Wendy was telling her parents good bye. Hamilton looked to Jack for permission and he gave him a nod. Hamilton reached to hug Morgan goodbye and then shook Jack's hand. The two spirits shot off into the wind, hand in hand.

"A whole week without her around. What are we going to do when we're not looking for Pitch? I don't know if I'm used to this free time..." Morgan said to her husband.

"Well, I want to visit Sophie, Jamie, and Helen. We could go see Linda and Brad. And your father might like another visit. It's been a while. And when was the last time you checked in on... Aubrey, Todd, and Peter?" Morgan's face tensed with the mention of her other siblings. She huffed with the reminder, and realized how much it hurt.

"The last time I stopped by to see how they were doing was two years ago."

"Maybe you might want to get on that."

"It's just depressing. None of them believe in me, and Peter's boys stopped believing in everything three years ago. None of them can see me. I hate being around them when I can't even... it hurts. It really hurts. And I thought that Lawrence... he had such a strong belief in all of us, but..."

"He believed until he was thirteen, that's got to count for something."

"For all I know, in a couple of years, he could be having kids of his own. That would mean I would be a great aunt and... maybe the kid would believe, but would... this is what Guardianship is, isn't it? Even if I have family, I'm just going to have to deal with it. If I stay away, maybe after a hundred years or so, it won't be so bad and I won't know who my family is anymore anyway."

"I think that's incredibly immature and unhealthy. Especially when it's your job to protect the children of Earth. That includes your family." Morgan grunted in protest and didn't want to look at him. Jack dropped his hand from hers and turned on the wind, stopping her from moving along.

"What are you...?" Jack pulled her towards him and then looped his arms underneath her so she was being cradled against his chest.

"I know what the first thing I want to do is!" he told her with arched brows. Morgan blushed, the heat from her cheeks melting the frost on his sweatshirt.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the living room of the Barry house, Charlee had decided to use Cecil as a cushion having sat on his book while he stretched out on the couch. Thomas was on the floor, holding down Nathan's wrists as he struggled to get up. Thomas, being the athletic one of the two, very clearly was winning.

"Dude, you have ten more seconds to kick me off. You've been struggling for almost two minutes already."

"Just because... you play... football..." Nathan grunted.

"Seriously? Your _sister_ is stronger than you."

"Well, you know Bess. She's basically a boy-"

"I am not a boy!" growled Elizabeth. Her fists shuddered threateningly.

"Okay, what is it? You hate it when I call you a girl, you hate it when I call you a boy."

"If I'm called a girl, everyone assumes I'm girly. But I don't like being called a boy because I'm not one."

"You're weird."

"Time!" shouted Charlee as she bounced and Cecil protested and pleaded for her to get off of him.

"I win again!" Thomas declared, and stood up.

"Why did you invite him?" Wendy whispered to her sister.

"I didn't want to invite Charlee either," Bess whispered. "I wanted it to be you, Cecil, Mary Beth, and Jordan. But I never would have heard the end of it if Charlee heard I had a party and she wasn't invited. And I invited Thomas so Nathan would leave us alone. Sometimes. Linda's family feels a little too much like family."

"Your family is so violent," said a girl around Elizabeth's age with hair so blonde it was nearly white. She had a narrow face and and wore clothes that Wendy thought were probably too thin for a thirteen year old to be wearing.

"It's how we bond," said Elizabeth. "This is my... cousin. Wendy."

"Awww, she's _adorable_!"

"I'm not a little kid. I'm almost ten," Wendy corrected, eyes flaring at the belittling tone of her sister's friend. Mary Beth inspected her attire, taking in the checkered leggings, the pink boots, the blue skirt with the jagged edge, and a t-shirt with an open monster mouth on it.

"Bess, you know how I make fun of you because you have no fashion sense whatsoever?"

"Um, you do it like every day, so yeah," Elizabeth commented with an amused grin.

"I take it back. At least your clothes make sense, even though they're boring. I have absolutely no idea what your cousin is wearing."

"I think that makes it look cool," said Wendy.

"No, no, it is," Mary Beth giggled girlishly. "Bess and I just have this thing. I love clothes and am always trying to come up with cute outfits. Bess just throws on jeans and a t-shirt, and I constantly tease her for having no creativity. It's cool you're taking on your own thing."

"Huh."

"You know, you don't really look related. I mean, your hair is dark, and your skin is darker, and your eyes are blue. I mean... maybe your smile and I guess there's something to your cheeks, but you look nothing alike."

"I'm her cousin on her father's side," Wendy rescued fairly quickly. "And I'm like... her father's first cousin's kid. And I take after my mom anyways. Bess looks a lot like our m- uh, her mom." She smiled brightly and Mary Beth could hear the stumbling in her voice. She gave her a look of questioning, but then must have decided to overlook it.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense." A boy about Elizabeth's age walked in from the kitchen then, holding a small package. He looked nervously around the room, a little skeptical of the fighting fest that was still trying to occur, and then his eyes softened when he spotted Elizabeth waving to him. He was a little bigger than average for his age, and he looked a little nervous being around people. His brown hair had been wet down and combed back, a little too carefully, and his t-shirt was tucked in too tight into his black jeans.

"Um, hi... Bess..." he said carefully.

"Hey Jordan!" she laughed and then took the package from him before greeting him with a big hug. He looked surprised before he took the opportunity to hug her back. His grey eyes blinked at her when she took the gift from him. "Okay, so that means everyone is here now. Daddy! Can we have cake?!"

"Do you want the one you are going to eat like a lady, or the one you are completely going to destroy with your annual cake eating contest?"

"Destroy!" Elizabeth growled.

"Just a second, Bess Baby!" Jordan snickered at the nickname and Elizabeth lightly hit him in the arm.

"Ow..." he mumbled.

"Oh quiet. Why do you insist on calling me Bess Baby?!"

"Because it's cute. Like you."

"I am thirteen!"

"Still cute."

"I am not cute!" Wendy listened to their banter, laughter trying to make way through their comical yelling. She pushed back her own giggles, loving the way her family reacted with each other, before she remembered, painfully, this was not her real family and she shared no real traits. She swallowed harshly as everyone ran into the kitchen. No matter what her Dad said, she could not keep from letting the fact that she was not truly connected to anyone plague her mind.

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**Okay, I really want my story to be a little interactive, where you get to help me with ideas and write it. I have said it before, but there is still some room in my plot if there's something in particular you want to happen, let me know! Also, I've been toying with bringing back some things that happened in the original story, to make a connection between the two. I have some things that are for sure going to happen, but if there's something you really liked, go ahead and message me about that too! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Rosie out.**


	15. Other Kids

**So this chapter isn't all that interesting, but cute. I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

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"Calm your shorts, Wendy," Elizabeth told her as they made their way towards the book shop that was in the corner of the mall. It had been two days since the chaos of her birthday party, and as much as she surprised herself by having fun with Bess' friends, she was happy when everyone left, including Charlee, Cecil, and Thomas. Sometimes she was around certain people too much. But Elizabeth had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, which was interesting because her parents told her for Wendy's entire first year, Bess had been determined to hate her; hitting her with plastic shovels and trying to push her out of her room, even when she visited the Taj Mahal house. Wendy remembered Jack tell the story about how one day, when Morgan had requested Hamilton to watch Wendy. It was Dec. 21st so Jack and Morgan wanted to celebrate their one year anniversary, but it was also four days before Christmas so the Yetis were unavailable and trying hard to complete all their work on time. Elizabeth had had a really bad nightmare and Wendy heard her screams. She woke up in the little playpen in her room and simply said "Okay, Bess. Okay, Bess." Elizabeth had apparently gotten out of bed and picked up Wendy, sitting with her on the ground, and she touched her face, smiling at her. From that moment on, they had been very close, and Elizabeth was always incredibly protective of Wendy, while also serving as her inspiration for rebellion and giving her suggestion for books to read. Wendy, obviously, didn't remember any of it, although she often wondered if Tooth could give the memory. She kind of liked not knowing it though, and listening to it as if it was a mysterious story that only Elizabeth and the adults knew.

"Look at this one! It says it's new! It looks so cool," Wendy said, flipping through a book on the end cap. "But it looks like it's the third book in a series. I want to start with the first one. Look at how things are categorized in here!"

"It's just a bookstore," Elizabeth said dully.

"Yeah you've probably been here hundreds of times. I've never gone anywhere in any continent by myself. I went sliding on the snow drifts many times by myself, but that's only at the pole. Okay, I take it back. I was in China by myself. Briefly."

"China?! Like in Asia?" Elizabeth shouted a bit too boisterously. She set down a book after reading it was mostly romance oriented and then joined her sister to listen to the story about her China visit.

"Oh, um. I kinda snuck out and took a snowglobe and went to China a few weeks ago."

"Why?! Or rather, I mean China. You don't need to explain sneaking out."

"Well, that was when Mom was still hurt from Pitch's attack and the Guardians had one less person, so I thought, hey why not? They need another person to fight, and I would be a Guardian some day, maybe I have some powers that will appear early or something. So I went to China, where they were. And well... I kinda got lost. I helped a kid... I think... but then... Dad found me."

"Uh oh. You know he's very protective of kids. But especially you."

"I know... I got into big trouble and I thought I was going to get ground and have my books taken away or something... but then Pitch found me."

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked with eyes bugged and not truly paying attention to the book she was picking up. She glanced at the cover and then stuck out her tongue, disgusted at the bare chested man and the half naked woman on the cover. Wendy tried to sneak a peak at the book, but she tossed it away before she could look at it.

"He... found out about me and I... found out about myself." Elizabeth glanced around her, trying to find something to distract herself. She shuffled through the books and ignored her gaze. "I know, Bess. I know I'm adopted. Pitch told me. He... he figured out there was no way I could really be mom and dad's kid and.. they told me everything. I was angry at first but..."

"They told you everything? Even the... dumpster bit?"

"Even the dumpster bit. How long have you known?"

"I knew you were adopted from the day they introduced me to you. But I didn't find out about the dumpster bit til I was eight."

"Oh."

"You're still my sister. Always have been. And nothing can change that." Wendy rolled a book over in her hand, glancing at its contents. While she flipped, curious hazel eyes looked out over the edge of the shelf that Wendy was standing near. The head that housed those eyes was covered with a forest of a fiery red hair. It was short, a near bob, but what it lacked in length it made up for its thickness, which was shocking considering it was stick straight. The girl stood over Wendy, looking at the book, her cream colored dress swaying around her legs as she stood politely in her brown sandals.

"Um, excuse me?" she greeted through a voice that was barely above a whisper. The girl blinked her eyes and color that matched her hair lined her cheekbones. "That's a really good. I've read it... four times. If you're looking for something funny and adventurous with friendship, that's a good one. I usually prefer things that have romance woven in them, but a change of pace is nice. Of course, you don't have to... I just thought... never mind."

"No, no, I like that! It's nice to know real people like it rather than the news article praises on the back," Wendy said, waving the back of the book to her for proof.

"I mean, I'm not big on reading made up fantasy, either. I like mythology. Any mythology. And anything pertaining to folklore and fables. It's like a good combination of fantasy and history, isn't it?" Her vibrant tresses moved as she talked. Wendy shrugged. "What's your name?"

"Wendy."

"Is that short for Gwendolyn?"

"No. Just Wendy."

"Wendy what?"

"Wendy Overland Frost."

"Is that your full last name?"

"Yes. I shorten it sometimes to just Frost. If you put in my mother's last name it's longer than that..."

"That's really funny."

"Why?"

"Dylan! Come here!" An incredibly thin boy appeared from the other side of the shelves, dressed in a vest over a thick, long sleeved shirt and jeans that looked like they wouldn't fit properly no matter how tight he made his belt. His hair was the color of dust, and his chin was sharp, pointed, and very prominent. He rubbed his eyes and blinked. Wendy noticed his eyes were actually green, but so dull they were almost brown. He put his hands in his pockets and waited for the girl to say something. "This is my friend Dylan. Oh, my name is Zeta by the way. Zeta Ralston."

"Zeta?" Wendy repeated.

"I know, it's a bit... odd. But I like it. It's like the Greek letter. Back to your name, though," she cleared her throat as she spoke, but not as if she was trying to clear away phlegm. Instead, she seemed to be looking for some sort of confidence, her tone changing as she built up the courage to speak her next words. "I just thought it was funny because... there's this character in folklore, maybe you've heard of him? Jack Frost? He's the spirit of winter-"

"That's my dad!" Wendy burst out, and the man sitting at the computer behind the desk looked up. "Um, I mean, Jack Frost is my dad."

"That's impossible," added in the boy named Dylan beside her, his voice strikingly lower than it seemed it would be. "Jack Frost doesn't have any kids. He couldn't have kids."

"Um, well, I think you could be a little wrong about that," Zeta sheepishly told him, and he gave her a questioningly look. "Well, you see, In the last couple of years I have found some things online of a few reports of this girl. It got, um, very dry, much drier than usual in the hotter parts of the world in the summer, and it, you know... around the time we were born it suddenly... cleared up. In more superstitious parts of the world where these droughts happened, they owed it to a new spirit, and soon uh... kids began to believe in it and see it."

"What does that have to do with Jack Frost?" Dylan snorted.

"Sometimes this spirit... it's a female, I think. From the things I've found on the internet, she's at least ten years older than Jack, but not much older than that, but she's... well, she's... been seen around with him. And I guess sometimes they look like they're in love, holding hands, and kissing... sometimes it's been said they're very cute. And, well... on a rare occasion, one or the other or both has been seen with a little girl. By now she would be... about ten. I think. Just from what I've read." Zeta closed up and thought everything she had talked about was clearly well informed, she appeared very unsure of herself through the whole thing. Elizabeth jerked on Wendy's arm, begging with her to leave the shop, but her eyes were widened by interest while the girl talked. Wendy nodded, agreeing with what she said. Elizabeth whispered for her to keep quiet or leave it alone, but the things Wendy was hearing drowned out her sister's words. She pulled away from her sister and every bit of sense in her that might have been there from learning not everyone believed in the world she grew up in had evaporated.

"That's my mom and dad!" Wendy exclaimed. "My parents are Jack Frost and Morgan Barry! He brings the winter and fuels the kids with fun, and my mom creates the moisture in the summer so the earth doesn't dry out, and inspires the imagination of kids!"

"That's it!" Zeta whispered excitedly, clapping as she gave a little jump. "Morgan Barry of Make-Believe. You mean to say, you really are their daughter?"

"Wait a minute, Zeta... maybe we should get more evidence..."

"Well, I mean... you could be right..." the redheaded girl muttered to herself carefully. "But she could be right and... sometimes you should just have an open mind."

"Your mind is open to everything though," Dylan reminded. Zeta's lips thinned into a line and she shrugged innocently.

"But I am their daughter! I really am!" Wendy said, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes, gesturing for her to be quiet. "I mean... I'm adopted... actually... but they raised me and I live with them."

"Wow..." Zeta gasped and then giggled. "That's incredible."

"Come on..." Elizabeth pressured and Wendy finally conceded to the yanking on her arm. With a bounce in her step, Wendy waved back to them, and used a crayon and Elizabeth's receipt to write the phone number that Zeta was politely shouting across the rows of books.

"This is amazing! They believe! And they were so nice, and they were my age! And did you hear that? She gave her number, which means she wants to talk to me!" Wendy enthused as she was being dragged around.

"Wendy, you need to be careful! Most people don't believe in those things anymore, and since Pitch has been dominating the world, belief in children has been ending earlier and earlier. Average age kids decide their beloved characters over the world is six years old. It's ten years old here in Pennsylvania, which is really high. It may be normal for you, but after ten years old, they simply drop. I'm a weirdo, okay? You need to be careful. I need to be careful, Nathan especially. Did you know when Nate was twelve, he answered in class that it was his mother that brought the morning dew? He got beaten up for _weeks_ for that! And he can never mention it again. If I'm not quiet about it, people will call me crazy. So be careful. I want you to have friends, but maybe they're just playing you and they're going to make fun of you or something. They very well may believe, they're still within the age range. Just... watch out, okay?" Elizabeth instructed and Wendy nodded her understanding,

"No matter what happens, it's a normal part of growing up, right? Something that I want."

"What do you mean?" Wendy inhaled sharply before she spoke.

"If I make friends, I will be just like every other kid. If I end up getting teased, then I'll have drama. Just like any other kid. And I will have experienced some of the 'real world'."

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**Don't forget to let me know if you have ideas! Until later, my rosettes.**


	16. A Game of Shadows

**Agh I started on this chapter two days ago and I am only just getting it now. Oh the days have gotten bust. But it was worth it. :) I love this chapter and the next one coming.**

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This was the time of the year they had been gearing up for, and the time of the year they had been dreading for a long while. Pitch was most active on this night of all nights, when adults and children alike usually liked to seek out things that terrified them. It gave everyone a strange sort of thrill to be scared so bad, and so people it gave them a thrill to scare others. The last few years of Halloween though had seemed to hold the latter in favor. The pranks seemed to have increased over the years. At first they were harmless things the Guardians simply shrugged at, but the last few years they had gotten dangerous. People had gotten hurt through the pranks that were supposed to be simple jokes. Some people got sick. There were instances of people dying from shock or carrying out a joke way too far. And then there was just the simple matter of those people who had blood lust in them, and people went missing, many of them never to be seen again. Homicide rates went up higher than ever around Halloween, and so did hospital visits. As October ended, the Guardians began to prepare for the worst. They set out early, around the time kids finished school, and they planned to go way past dawn.

"Sixteen!" Tooth shouted cheerfully as she and a small convoy of her hummingbird fairies stomped out a Nightmare. "That's my sixteenth one!" She hovered over various rooftops, carefully watching as the children scurried along the streets and stopped at lighted house. "Oh, look at that little girl dressed as a fairy! So cute!"

"I'm kinda liking the boy and the girl dressed up in period costume. The sewing is bad, but the representation is pretty accurate," Morgan admired, and then jetted off across the rooftops to catch a glittering horse trying to sneak into a window. She rolled with it, pinning it to the gable of the roof. She uncapped her canteen and threw the stream of water against it. It whinnied and then melted, turning into a mess of black goop. Morgan smirked at the black dirt that glistened brightly and then skipped across the skies to find another victim. "Fourteen!"

"You're still behind," Jack cackled from the several feet he was away from her. "I'm at still at twenty-three."

"Give me a break, I haven't been doing this as long as you have!"

"You've been doing it for ten years. Another one! Northeast!"

"I get this one!" Bunny called, springing forwards.

"No way, Cottontail! I saw it first!" A ribbon of gold slapped the hurrying black mare five times until it slapped its back and it disintegrated into a smoldering mess. Sandman flipped his tongue out at them and then waved whimsically. "Sandy!"

"Two!" North laughed and then his sleigh bumped across the roofs and his reindeer pursued the trotting horses that were gaining on speed to get away. He veered around corners and then sailed over the two mares. He drifted in front of them and then released a war cry. The horses turned again, but were too slow. The reindeer sped up and all nine of the creatures trampled the two harbingers of fear. "I believe that is twenty-two!"

"Damn it!" Morgan cursed loudly, and then punched the air so she shot downwards. She floated underneath a dark horse, who yelped when it saw the spirit drifting out from under it. Morgan held out her Hosta plant and turned the bell of the flower. She squeezed around the pistil and out came a thick, moist white cloud. The mist clung to the horse and it skidded to half, looking around to clear the area before it. While it channeled its own fear in determining which direction to head in, Jack flew right over it and tapped it with the edge of his staff. The horse grew stiff with the ice growing around it, and then toppled over. It shattered into hundreds of dark slices, scattering through the street.

"Twenty-one!" Jack screamed.

"That one was mine!" Morgan yelled up at him.

"You just stopped it. I defeated it!"

"We're married! Everything we do, we share!"

"That logic does not apply to victory," Jack told her carefully.

"You stole my horse!" Morgan shot up from where she was on the ground and aimed the Hosta plant at his face. He relaxed his eyes and gave her an innocent roll of the eyes.

"My dear, you realize that by shooting water at me, all it will do is create more ice?"

"Hey, North, do you have the authority to divorce people?!" Morgan joked in a shout down to the big red man.

"That is depending! Would it stop all instances in bushes?"

"No!"

"Then answer is no!"

"Ugh..."

"If you just learned to turn yours off before we start the heavy stuff," Jack began to lecture.

"I forget, okay?!" Morgan screamed back, and then Bunny came hopping alongside her. Jack, Morgan, and Bunny were now hopping across the rooftops to chase more of the Nightmares and keep the children without as much fear as possible that night.

"Oh, but we don't..." Bunny muttered with eyes widened as if he has seen horrible things in his life. "Mate, we never ever forget everything you ever say to each other over that thing..."

"Nineteen!" came Tooth's voice over their microphone."

"What, no, no, I'm still at fifteen!" Morgan screamed in desperation. "How did you just get three?!"

"You do pretty good for rookie!" laughed North as his sleigh weaved through the streets.

"Rookie?!" Morgan screeched, and hurried her speed up. She caught the glint of black sand running in the opposite direction as they were. She fell back and flew after it, watching as it made its way into the forest where some kids were probably hiding; some were probably playing an innocent night game, while others were probably lying in wait to scare them. This was the one night a year, she had been warn, where they let a little fear leak out. On certain occasions, getting scared could be entertaining for people, which was one of the reasons horror films were so popular, but the Guardians were to make sure it didn't get out of hand, like it had been. The other Guardians called back to her, but her body vanished among the stalks of the pine trees. She brandished the plant and kept it to her chest. The beaten old canteen swung at her hips, the water slapping around inside of it. She watched a kid around twelve jump out and scare someone who was Wendy's age. The young girl started to cry and then ran out of the woods while the kid who scared her taunt her. Morgan shook her head and sighed.

The leaves crunched freshly under her boots, and a few kids turned heads to the sound she was making. Her eyes darted around, trying to track the Nightmare that had ventured into the woods. The crunch of twigs spun her around and then she slowly backed up, a tree blocking her from going any further and she yelped. Sighing with embarrassment, she snickered at herself and then eased in the darkness that shrouded the area. She gnawed on the inside of her cheek and then her eyes explored the obscurities between the trunks around her. Curiously, she looked between everything around her, realizing she couldn't even see any more kids. A little disturbed by the emptiness, she began to retreat, hoping she was heading back the way she came.

"Morgan," came the crackly voice of Bunny through the mic. Morgan tapped the headset that rounded her head. "What do ya see?"

"Uh, how about nothing?" she offered. "I saw a Nightmare come in here. There were some kids playing in here, and sudden;y everyone is gone. It feels like there's nothing here. Just trees and night. I'm trapped in darkne- ahhh!" Morgan's shrilly cry urged her to swipe at the hand on her shoulder and she swung her plant at it. She pulled on the bell of the flower and the darts of dew crashed and the instant transformation soon made them fall to the ground like small diamonds. Jack smirked and carefully fingered the end of her nutmeg hair.

"It's me, Morgs, just me," he said, while he nuzzled her neck with the end of his nose. "You saw a Nightmare come in here?"

"Yes and now..."

"There's nothing. There were kids when I came in."

"They ran off," answered a voice around the tree to the left of the two of them. Jack took position, pressing his back up against Morgan's own so they were leaned against each other, and ready to attack. The charm of the voice had made it clear that it was Pitch Black who had spoken to them, but where he was hiding was unclear. The screaming in their ears was distracting them, making it difficult to locate the voice they were trying to tune into. Jack ripped off his headset and took Morgan's, tucking them in his sweatshirt pocket so there were no distractions. The only thing that was in between them and darkness were the tree trunks that closed them in.

"Show your face," Morgan growled as Jack propped his staff upwards. There was a neigh as a Nightmare galloped into their small opening and Morgan reacted. She pounced towards it, supplying a rush of water from the opening of her canteen. It rushed into the golden eyes of the dark horse and it gave a high pitched call. It stumbled in its spot and Morgan sent a wave of droplets, blasting them like bullets into the side of the horse. It disintegrated so it was just a mess of black sand. Icy fingers wrapped around her wrist and Morgan's skin responded to the touch of her husband. His spun her into his chest and looked at her firmly.

"Calm down," he whispered. "We need to think. We can't just react. Remember what happened on Changabang?"

"Ugh, why do you keep bringing that up?" Morgan groaned.

"Because we need to learn from our mistakes..."

"Precisely why you need to stop coming after me..." echoed the voice of their enemy as it surrounded them. Morgan hugged herself close to Jack, icy shots being sent through her whole body from the closeness of their skin.

"Why don't you come out of hiding?!" Jack shouted. "If you're such a man, show yourself!"

"I don't have time for pleasant conversation, as much as I would love to. It's a busy night for me, you know."

"There's nothing wrong with a little fear for a good thrill on Halloween," Morgan shouted into the vastness around her. "But these children, they're going to get hurt if you keep on like this!"

"And they'll fear more! The more fear rules them, the more I am constant in their life!"

"But you shouldn't be!"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot. You do not believe being constant in the lives of your children. You're always abandoning them, aren't you?" Morgan tore away from Jack and began to rush among the trees, pushing away the low hanging boughs that stood in her way.

"You wretched little shit!" she hissed. "You know nothing about my relationship with my kids! You know nothing about my Wendy! I am going to break every little bone in your body-"

"I know nothing?! Ha ha! I know more about them than you will ever know! Everything I need to know is right there, in their fears..." The way his voice devilishly turned only admitted the smile that could be heard while he spoke, his charming allure breaking through and causing his smooth whisper to be all that more twisted. Jack ran to catch up, and stop Morgan from speeding around senselessly. Her eyes widened, the browns of them illuminating under the light of the moon so they sparkled like dew on tree bark in the middle of the fall. His words rendered her still, all endurance vanishing from her steps.

"Their fears...?" she whispered. Now Jack, coming up behind her, was slowly his walk having caught the last words. He twisted his palms against the cold of his stick, wrists shuddering with rage. From the edges of the trees in front of them, the shadows lengthened and stretched. They danced and moved, building up against another tree and taking form.

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**Come and join Guardians Arising! It's a text based RP site! It's so fun! I play Elizabeth Barry AND Hiccup! :) Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming up soon!**


	17. Releasing Fear

**So I might have typed two up at once. I was having too much fun.**

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Then emerged Pitch Black, in his long cloak of shadow draped seductively on his shoulders and flowing down past his legs. His golden eyes looked at her with humor, and his dark lips plunged into a smile corresponding to the sharp dip of his chin. His wild hair moved while he walked towards them, hands professionally being held behind his back.

"They may have better control of their fears than most children. No doubt that's due to their parents whom they clearly love. Nathan, let's see... Nathan lives in the shadow of Thomas. His best friend, but also the person he strives to be more than anyone else. Athletic and funny, although not quite as good looking as Nathan is. But Nathan is gawky and a little awkward, isn't he?"

"Clearly he doesn't have a problem winning over people," Jack said. "He has several friends, and I think he's pretty much sealed the deal on this new girl he's trying to win over."

"You're not talking about the one he came very close to deflowering, are you?"

"Oh, you're disgusting-" Morgan began to scream.

"Ah ah ah, my dear," he told her fondly, wagging his finger at her. "Let's not be hasty, shall we?"

"No, if you knew as much as you said you did, you would know that isn't the one I meant," Jack snarled and raised the crook of the weapon he held.

"Oh, I know, trust me. In fact, her eyes have recently fallen for another. She was the one waiting for him to make the move, but he took far too long. And now he's getting suspicious and worried, thinking he will never be able to truly charm some young lady. Most recently, he's wondering how he can keep his mother and stepfather a secret, and hide how he believes in everything almost everyone his age no longer believes in. How can he hold a relationship with something like that? And without being thought of as insane? Let's look to Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth has a good head on her shoulders!" Morgan barked at him.

"Oh, there's no doubt about that at all, of course not, but she's still human, remember," His crooked smile split his face and the urge to run him through intensified in Morgan's loins and chest. She was crushing the Hosta with murderous desire. "She wants to live up to her mother's expectations, afraid she never will. Now tell me, what were you thinking when you named her Elizabeth?!"

"Don't answer that," Jack warned, but Morgan could not deny the question.

"That she would be beautiful, strong, powerful, confidant, proud, sensible, and know that she need never answer to others to prove herself."

"Exactly my point, Morgan!" he laughed. "She knows you think highly of Queen Elizabeth."

"Everyone and their cousin Wyatt does," Jack remarked with sarcasm, receiving a dangerous look from her.

"But it's because you regard her so much that it may be a burden. You gave her a name that she thinks she needs to live up to! It's so pressure. Beautiful? Of course, she wants to be seen as attractive. Especially now, being thirteen and all. And this is a really hard time for young girls."

"What do you mean, especially now...?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you? Well that's another one of her fears. Elizabeth has had her very first crush, but she refuses to tell anyone because she doesn't want to ruin her image as a rough and tough girl. I thought she would have at least said something to you."

"Never... she never... and Wendy never mentioned..." Morgan stammered through her emotion. Her breath shortened and she looked around for some sense. But this wasn't the time to start the tears.

"He's just manipulating you, like always," Jack told her. "It's all a trick, it's a lie. He's deceptive."

"Ask her about precious Jake."

"Jake Stroud?!" Morgan gasped. "He's just a kid on her soccer team, a teammate! He's always been super nice. He and Elizabeth have passed the ball around a few times and practiced one on one. I've watched her punch him in the arm when he dumped a cup full of ice on her head and seen her call him an idiot! They play video games together and wrestle each other on the field! That's not how girls act when they like someone!"

"That's not how you act," Pitch corrected sharply. "Elizabeth is very different. She relates more to boys than girls, and she's struggling to sort out her feelings. This is the first time something like this has happened, and it's a very girly feeling to her, so she's not too happy about it. She doesn't want people to find out because she doesn't want to be seen as weak."

"Which really doesn't make sense because someone said something, she'd throw them in a garbage bin anyway," came Jack's next remark.

"She doesn't know how to react, so she's doing everything she's ever done and increasing it, hoping things will go away and no one will notice. But I can see her fears. Back on her name, she wants this... boy to see her as beautiful, but not in the sense Queen Bess was. Adorned with clothes and jewelry, make up and hairstyles is not little Lizzie's thing-"

"DON'T CALL HER LIZZIE!" Jack and Morgan shouted together. Pitch waved it off.

"She wants the natural attraction, and wants a guy to go crazy at the site of her in grass stains and dirt smears on her face. Elizabeth was not that. Your daughter does not feel confidant, she does feel powerful, she does feel proud of herself, and she gets told time and time again she does think sensibly! And you did that to her Morgan. By giving her the name, you made her think she needs to live up to it!"

"That's not true at all! I gave her the name of someone I think is important, because she's important to me! And that's the only reason why!"

"Tell that to a thirteen year old girl! Oh, and then there's the matter of Wendy... I have yet to truly explore her fears... oh, but I think... she's in town! With Elizabeth and Nathan, and she's gone trick or treating with Bess and Linda's kids, hasn't she?"

"If you so much as lay a fingernail on my girl, I will destroy you from the inside out!" Jack bellowed his warning, the tip of his hook barely grazing Pitch's bare grey stomach.

"Oh, Jack, when will you learn I don't need to touch them to get them afraid? That's what I have my Nightmares for. I have a feeling Wendy's mind is going to be a little strong to penetrate with fear. She's been living around the philosophy of not letting fear get the best of you for a while. Oh, you people have raised your daughter to be really boring, haven't you?"

"I'm warning you..."

"You're not really afraid of me, are you Jack? It's Hamilton you're concerned about."

"What?" Morgan asked quietly, dropping her guard.

"Just ignore him," he said through gritted teeth.

"As you should be. You see, I've peered into Hamilton's dreams and concerns. And you know what I found? The depression. The fear of being alone forever. He never loved another after you, Morgan. And to this day he still aches for you. So sweet and tender, really. It really pulls at one's heart strings. That's true love there."

"Hamilton understands-" Morgan began.

"Of course he does!" Pitch shouted. "Because he is a good person, and he thinks of Jack like a brother and loves you and would never ever do anything to harm either one of you! But the goodness in him makes it worse, as he is to be a good father, and a good friend and he can do nothing about it! He cannot get himself to love again because you're still around! He can't even make himself not like you because you're both so kind to him! And Jack, you're understanding! Really, both of your natures of being good and sensible and kind are only making his pain worse! Don't you think that's selfish? If there was one thing in this whole world Hamilton wanted more than anything in the entire world, it's Morgan! And by you being alive, it creates much more tension and he can't let go! If you were dead, he could! The Man in the Moon only made things worse by saving you!"

"What about you?!" Morgan shrieked, closing the gap between her and the dark shadow. "What did Manny saving me do for you?! Don't lie to me, Pitch! I know there's a heart in there somewhere and I know you still care for me. But your increased madness doesn't show that anymore! In fact, you tried to kill me! Ever since I became a Guardian."

"You're just like them, Morgan! When you were human, I had a chance at your friendship, but now you're one of them! Do you know why the Guardians were even chosen in the first place? To get rid of me! And now that's your goal, and you accepted it so easily! You search for me every night, and think nothing of me! Do you know how much that hurts?! To be cast out? To not be believed in?" His words echoed across in Jack's mind, as he remembered very similar words so many years ago. Almost thirty years ago even. He remembered how things had gone down and then touched his fingers to Morgan's arm.

"Don't listen," he instructed. "It's just another one of his tricks."

"You treated me like I was nothing!" Pitch shouted and Morgan let the guilt seep in through her veins, pushing down her arms so she lowered her plant of a weapon. "And you just wrote me off! So why not take the whole world?! Why not get someone to see me? Draw children and adults to me? And if I get your children in the process, so be it!"

"I didn't choose this!" Morgan shouted. "I didn't choose to die! I didn't choose to become a spirit!"

"But you took the Guardian oath! So you chose to be a Guardian!"

"To protect the children!"

"FROM ME!"

"I've had enough of you!" Morgan bellowed and then formed a ball of water, forming it in her palm and slamming it against the dirt. The earth moved, the ground rippling and tripping up the Boogeyman in front of them. He stumbled and then for a second, the reflection of fear ran across his eyes. He charged forward and Morgan shot off, moving so fast, Jack had difficulties trying to keep up with her, even as he jumped up into the sky. The trees blocked her view, and he only could tell their paths by the rustle of the pines as they sped on past.

Among the trees, Morgan dodged his shots of black sand arrows and axes. Nightmares whinnied as the galloped towards her, but flung her water bullets to hinder them, and shot burst of water from her canteen in front of her. She caught Pitch's foot with her ribbon of water and dragged him along the path. Pulling him so she was towering over him, Morgan introduced her fist to face, knocking his face so his cheek touched the ground.

"You only knows the fears of my family!" she hissed. "The fears only make up a small percentage of them! You will never know their fun, their dreams, their hope, their wonders, their memories, or their imagination!"

"You're wrong! Having too much fun can get scary," he chuckled. "Dreams can be infected with nightmares. Hope can be crushed easier than Fear can. Wonder can be drowned out with the realization of fear. Memories can stir up less than pleasant memories and create fears. And imagination, well... imagination is the greatest weapon in fear. That's when fear gets you. If you let it run rampant and focus too much on the things in the dark, you imagine things and that's what gets you. I know it all, precious Morgan. Everything. Even some of the... things between you and Jack you don't do a very good job at keeping secret." His malevolent smile was laced with knowing mischief and Morgan felt frozen by his gaze, her arm impulsively slapping him into the nose. For a second, she thought about how she had him pinned, and could crush his face at any minute. She could shove her canteen down his throat, drown him, and all his Nightmares would go with it. She could finish him, and this battle that had been going on for ten years would come to an end. And she was readying herself, unscrewing the cap. But she looked at him then, flexing the pain from the tip of his hooked nose, and remembered all those years ago, a young girl, lonely, broken, and filled with heartache. He have her some hope and happiness, even if it was deceptive and only to get to Jack. He made her feel important and cared for, and in the end he showed that a part of him still wished for her safety. For a while, after she died, he stayed away from her family's nightmares, and stayed away from Linda. He left Hamilton untouched for a whole year, and let him get the hang of having a dead wife who was technically alive. And that core in her remembered him, as a young girl. How she saw him as a friend, and a part of her beat with compassion for him. She looked at his eyes now, so cold and dull from the sadness he had in his life. He truly did have a daughter and Morgan knew there was no way, as horrible as he was, that he hadn't loved her. Somewhere, underneath the blackness, he had feeling, and she couldn't find her strength anymore. Her body abandoned her angst and she drew back.

"Stay away from my family! And the rest of the world for that matter! But especially my family!" Morgan jumped off him and began to run off.

"You're letting me go?!" he coughed, touching his nose and inspecting his fingers like he expected to see blood.

"Would someone who didn't care about you do that?" Morgan questioned and then pushed on past the trees. Jack, flying around as if a hawk, spotted her flying up and then ran across the currents to catch her in his arms and fly up higher.

"Where's Pitch?" he asked.

"Gone."

"He got away?!" Jack asked.

"Hardly!" Morgan screamed so the winter spirit twitched with the feeling of her shout in his ear. "Stupid pig headed ass was right! I can't destroy him... we have too much history and I care too much! There's something in him..."

"He was just using you and feeding you lies to get to you!" he told her, holding her close. "It's what he does."

"And he was right, Jack! None of it was lies, it was the truth! I let him go... I can fight back Nightmares, I can help kids to fight their fears, but I can't get rid of him. He's too..." Morgan sighed and pushed away the tears that were streaming on her face. Jack slowed on the winds when he noticed she was becoming a little stressed. He flipped her legs up so her side was tight against his abdomen and his arms were positioned perfectly under her back and legs. Morgan nuzzled her nose against the nap of Jack's frost coated neck and smiled at the tickle of the cold to her nose tip. Jack leaned into the heat she radiated against his side. He gasped in remembering the headsets he had tucked away in the fight and then swung one onto Morgan's head and put his own on.

"Jack and Morgan are here," he said.

"Finally! Where have you two been?! We've been screaming into the mics for hours!" Came Tooth's desperate cry. "You're not hurt are you?!"

"We're fine, we're fine... we ran into Pitch."

"What?! What happened?" Bunny asked.

"Same old. Some fighting, some talk about how we're the horrible fear, some reminding of fears, more fighting, and then some dark revelation that none of us knew."

"Please tell me we got him!" asked Tooth quickly. Morgan buried her face against his chest, guilt quieting her as she sniffled. Jack looked down at her and stroked her head lovingly.

"He was smarter than us," Jack lied, and Morgan's eyes widened. "He got away again." North could be heard swearing in Russian. Morgan snickered at the sound of North being not so polite.

"Ah, mate, don't worry about it," said Bunny sadly. "'S not yer fault he got away."

"Uh-" Morgan started quickly, but Jack pressed his finger to her lips to quiet her. Jack slowed as he drifted closer to the end of the forest. It was lighter now between the trees, no longer an unending screen of dark around them. All the lights in the windows had been shut off as the night of tricks and treats came to its end. They watched children hurry home and then the forests emptied of tricksters and the streets cleared of kids in costume. Jack settled Morgan gentle on the ground and they watched, the emptiness around them, finding the area void of people actually made it peaceful.

"Listen," Jack said into his mic. "Morgan is... a little torn up about something Pitch told her." She glanced sideways at him, his eyes so much bluer under the light of the moon. The way they struck at her without blame or guilt just made the twisting of her gut tighter and she looked away. Jack slipped his fingers between hers and stepped closer, his breath like ice pellets against the bare skin on her neck. "You know she's a little more compassionate to him than any of us. Their history and his betrayal... it's hard for those things to leave..."

"Yes, we understand this," North said calmly.

"It only makes sense," said Tooth kindly, a smile leaking through the earpieces.

"Permission to stay away for an hour so Morgan and I can talk?"

"I think that'd be all right," Bunny said.

"After an hour is up and we still haven't turned our mics back on, then you may come looking for us," Jack said.

"Got it, Jack," Tooth laughed. "And Morgan... it's okay. Whatever he said... it's okay." Jack addressed them for the last time and he turned the dials on his and Morgan's before tucking them back into his sweatshirt. Morgan took up a spot on the lump of a boulder between two trees. Jack rested his staff against his lap after he casually sat beside her, her knees held close to her chest. He rested his palm against the small of her back, waiting patiently before she spoke.

"I... I couldn't..." she stuttered.

"Shh," he whispered, turning her head to him. "I know."

"And you're not aggravated with me? You're not going to sit there and lecture me?"

"Why would I do that?!"

"I let him go!"

"You let your heart make the choice," he said carefully, tapping her hand. "And besides... you can't destroy fear. It's always going to be there. We just need to learn to control it."

"If it were you though..."

"I would have slaughtered him, true," Jack said.

"And I did the exact opposite! How does that not annoy you?!" Morgan yelled. Jack hung his head and let it roll with his chuckling.

"Right on all accounts. You didn't do what the other Guardians would have," he clarified, and Morgan's eyes turned back into despair. She covered her face with her hands and her shoulders prepared the motion of her sobbing. Jack lightly pulled her hands away from her face and then wrapped his arm around her tightly. "No, Morgan, that is one of the many things I love you. You react on emotion. Your injured past with him is what almost got him to kill you last time. On the other side of that coin though, you also reacted with emotion tonight when you let him go. Your emotion was compassion and you couldn't destroy him. It's not always a bad thing to react on it."

"You don't think I screwed up?"

"I think you reacted perfectly." Jack pulled her body into his lap and twirled her hair around, watching frost patterns stiffen the curls he formed. "That's a pretty sexy look for you. Frosted curls." Morgan laughed and shook the three he made out of her hair, leaving them so they were only slightly petrified by the ice and wavy.

"We have fifty-eight minutes left," said Morgan. "Are we really going to be talking about this the entire time?"

"No," Jack scoffed. "That was just a ruse. All the kids are gone, Pitch is gone, we won't be bothered for a while, we actually have more than ten minutes this time..."

"Jack...?" Morgan giggled, red brightening her cheeks as he began to loosen the ties on her corset belt. His lips then crushed hers while his fingers lingered down to the rise in her shirt just below her neck. "Seriously Jack. Not on this rock!" Morgan rose and jerked Jack's hand behind her, rushing to a private secluded clearing. She laughed just as Jack held her up against a tree, his lips beginning their quest to explore every part of her, and they forgot all about fear.

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**I think this was the most interesting chapter so far. It really looks into a whole bunch of relationships at once. Await another chapter tomorrow. Until later, my rosettes!**


	18. Play Things

**I need to explain myself. The past two days have been crazy. Between work schedule crazy, because I've been picking up hours outside my availability, school starting next week, battling writer's block, and just odds and ends up interruptions I have not updated for two days. And even now as I type this, I have been up for 23 hours. I'm a little exhausted guys, so please, have my three days work. And I hope I sleep for 12 hours. Anyway, here's a pretty good chapter. Good doesn't necessarily mean happy, but it's good.**

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"No! No you idiot! That was me! You just killed me! Ugh, you're so useless sometimes, you know that!" Elizabeth screamed into the mic weaving around her head. She aggressively dropped the controller into her lap and gestured to the moving images on the TV screen of soldiers scrambling across the carcasses of diseased aliens. "Jake, you are such a freak sometimes – don't you laugh, it's not funny! How the hell could you ever confused me with a Necroid? I've got all this garb and... oh, I see yeah sure. We'll just have to see about that!... Weeeelll let's see who dies first!" Morgan leaned against the door frame of the small room in the basement, where Elizabeth was playing video games across the internet with her friend Jake from the soccer team, the same one Pitch had told Jack and Morgan she had been interested in. She kept a close on her daughter, listening for anything that made indicate affection, but nothing echoed familiarity. It seemed just the same way Thomas and Nathan were with each other. If anything, the boys had more affection for each other than her dear Bess did for Jake.

"Not spying, are we?" Jack taunted, keeping his voice quiet. However that didn't seem to be that necessary considering how high Elizabeth was raising her voice.

"No, no, no, go left! Left! I said – now you just blew yourself, loser. Uh, no I don't give bad directions, you just..."

"Not spying," Morgan sighed, tilting her head with curiosity. "Just trying to understand..."

"Pitch is deceptive. Maybe he was lying," Jack hushed, amused at the way the girl was screaming at the TV.

"No, no, he wouldn't do that," Morgan carefully assured herself, eyes zoning out of the world around her for just a second. Jack groaned and scratched the back of his head in thought, brow wrinkling with concern.

"Morgs, you can't keep thinking-"

"No, that's not what I meant," she interrupted. "Pitch is a show off. When he knows a fear you don't know, he boasts about it. He's proud. And he was proud that he knew all about Jake and I knew nothing. So it has to be the truth. But how? Who acts like that? I never did... I got... well..."

"You blushed, you giggled, you danced as you walked, you were cautious about what you said, you argued, you were angered by every little thing said... shall I go on?" Jack taunted, a widespread grin of amusement plastered over his mouth while Morgan glowered at him. She sashayed away from him and he picked up his feet to follow.

"You have a problem."

"Yes, in fact, it's oh... right... there!" Jack stretched his arm back and rubbed at a spot just below where his skull met with his neck. "Oh, it was just a pain in my neck."

"Ugh..." Morgan walked around the Barry house nervously, fidgeting with the need to jump and pummel something. Recognizing how distant she was from her family, Jack had insisted they go out together as a family and spend some time with the mortals in their life. Linda's kids practically lived with the Barrys, so they were of course, crowding the Barry house too. Nathan and Thomas were throwing around a football, Elizabeth was trying to murder her friend in her game, and Wendy was trying to have a rare moment spending time with the ever shy and quiet Cecil, watching some comedic family film about a disobedient dog that Morgan made sure did not have a sad ending. Licorice had been curled up between the two kids, and Charlee kept trying to push between them to get to the dog and hang onto Wendy. Fortunately, the dog was doing a pretty good job of keeping her away. Mallory was somewhere in one of the bedrooms, on her phone, doing a mixture of browsing the internet and texting.

Christmas had come and gone, but it was early enough in January that the trees had not been removed and much of the decorations still weaved through the house. Morgan nibbled on a stale Christmas cookie and then discussed Jack when she spat out the pink and green bits into his hand.

"That's disgusting..." he said, and then smeared his hand against the sink, creating a thin frozen basin at the bottom of it. Morgan glanced in the sink and then turned, crossing her arms at Hamilton who was scanning through historical documents for work.

"You still haven't learned to _completely_ drain the sink after doing dishes..." Morgan released a long, winded breathed that continued to stretch long past her comment.

"It's just a little bit of water," Hamilton mumbled.

"Here we go..." Jack sighed, recognizing a fight between them when he saw it. "Still in love with the idea of fighting as if they were married."

"Come on, Charlee, Licorice is sitting there!" Wendy protested and she tried to push the dark haired girl out of her way. The dog whined and licked Wendy's face as she nervously watched the two argue.

"But I want to be by you!" Charlee whined. "You're my best friend."

"Pretty sad when you don't even see me that often..."

"Can we just watch the movie?" Charlee squeaked. Wendy stomped her feet and jumped up, curling her fists to hold onto her aggression. Cecil curiously watched the two of them, nibbling on the pear in his hand and wiping away the juice around his lips. He seemed unsure whether to be excited or saddened by their interaction, and instead just kept on watching.

"Fine. What the movie. But without me!" Wendy turned, the bubble skirt of fluorescent pink flouncing against her leggings with the designs of goldfish on them. Licorice slid against the floor as he tried to keep up with her while she strutted through the hallway.

"Aww, Charlee, you did it again..." Cecil moaned.

"Oh, shut up Cecilia!"

"Don't caaaalll me thaaaattt. That's a girl's name..."

"You sure whine like one."

"You just insulted yourself, haha." Wendy drifted through the house and away from the Lichter kids, searching for somewhere to be herself. She had been lonely for so long, she had forgotten that being around people she knew too well could also be just as lonely. Entering Elizabeth's bedroom she was currently not in, Wendy shut the door and then jumped onto the bed. She picked up the laptop that was sitting casually against her sister's pillow and pulled it open. With Wendy and Elizabeth being as close as they were, they often took and shared each other's stuff. It was almost like an unspoken agreement that neither one of them decided on, but knew the other didn't care. She rubbed her stocking feet together while she pulled up the web chatting service and suddenly her computer was ringing, a call coming in from Zeta and Dylan. The window popped up with them, sitting beside each other, in front of something that was large, square, white, and rumbling.

"Wendy!" Zeta greeted pleasantly. "Hello!"

"Hi!" Wendy enthused. "Why is there a washing machine behind you?"

"Because the only place in Dylan's entire house where the internet signal is strong enough for videos and webcam chats is the laundry," Zeta explained.

"Not my fault," Dylan said in a bored voice to her.

"Oh, I never said it was!" Zeta quickly gasp, face whitened by her horror that she insulted him. "I was merely explaining to Wendy why... oh, Dylan, I'm sorry..."

"Zeta. Joke."

"Oh." And then Zeta grinned, color back into her face and she let out a light laugh that reminded Wendy of the sound of a penguin being tickled.

"How long are you in town?" Dylan wanted to know, getting right down to business.

"Oh! Um, just til the morning," Wendy moped. "My life is kind of crazy."

"Well, that's understandable, your family is very important. They're trying to protect everyone, aren't that? I would be proud to have parents like that..." Zeta whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, when are we going to meet this Jack Frost and Morgan of Make-Believe?" Dylan said dully. He waved his hand, subtly motioning to move things along.

"Maybe you could... be a little nicer about it?" Zeta asked with her voice squeaking at the end. The two friends began to argue in a far more civil way than Wendy had ever seen two people debate before. She giggled as they talked, before her attention was caught and pulled bu the sounds from Mallory's room, just across from where she was. The door appeared like it had been pushed shut, but the latch had come loose and was now open a small crack so Wendy could make out snippets of whispers, and the tiniest bits she heard punched right through her. It wasn't making a string of sense, but something about the tone and the desperation squeezed her gut and she knew this was not a normal conversation.

"Hang on guys," Wendy whispered, and her urgency made them stop immediately. "Um. Something is... I'm not sure what's happening but. I think my cousin... well sort of my cousin... there's something wrong. I'll be back to tell you what happened." She didn't even properly hang up the call, just slapped the laptop shut and then stood up, her stocking feet sliding across the floor to create the most minimal noise. She pressed her face against the sliver of space between the wall and the door, and angled her ear to catch the most of the conversation wafting from the bedroom where Mallory was trying to keep her conversation private. Everything about respecting privacy was flooding her mind as she thought about the consequences of her actions, but Mallory's voice sounded so strained and heartbroken that she responded to the impulsive tug, the one that was pulling so hard it was literally becoming a pain. Once she settled into her spot and focused her attention, the words of the conversation became clear.

"I explained that to you already... I know what I said... I know what you told me... I had my period, okay I didn't... Curt, look... what do you want me to do? I know you are... yes... I know... I'm sorry..." Wendy blinked, trying to connect her words together and form some sense between them. Mallory hadn't had a boyfriend for a couple of years, and didn't show much interest in having one. In fact, she always seemed nervous about it, despite being so flirtatious like her mother. She pressed her lips together, trying to think of a plausible reason Mallory would have for talking about something like her period to a guy. Malory's weeping ceased and melancholy tone picked up, but it wasn't anywhere near happy. It sounded just as it had before, remorseful even. "Next weekend, I'll drive up. I'll say you forgot to give me my Christmas gift... well then you better give me something or mom's going to know something... Curt, please don't say that, that's... gross... not, but that's.. okay. I promise. Next weekend, when Tiff is gone... yeah. No, you'll have me the whole day... I won't chicken out... yes I'll let you... touch me... there... Yes... yes I know what you'll do if I try to get away again... I got it last time... okay. Bye." Wendy gulped and then panted heavily, fears beginning to sink in on what this could mean. She pushed her eyes open, forcing the tears to keep from dropping. She shook her head, reciting her mantra that was she was stronger than the fear. Even so, something horrible was happening, and something that had happened before. It sounded incredibly immoral, incredibly intrusive, and disgusting in every way imaginable, but Wendy was a little fuzzy on what exactly was happening.

Figuring that four minutes passing was enough, she sped out of the room and discovered that Mallory was no longer there, and peeped in to see her washing her face in the bathroom, the rushing water keeping from hearing her and hands rubbing her eyes keeping her from seeing her. Wendy fused her lips together to prevent her peep from coming out and then ran back into the kitchen, where Jack was amusing himself bu forming characters out of the ice cubes in the fridge and Hamilton was caught in the middle of an argument with her mother, an argument she would never win. Trembling and whiter than her father's hair, Wendy padded to the,. She wrung her hands in front of her, and then decided that was too obvious, putting her hands behind her back.

"Mom... Dad... um... I think I have to talk to you..." the cracking of her voice and the way her shoulders were shuddering under her emotion, snapped their attentions straight to her. They knew something wasn't right. Wendy never showed such fear and worry in front of them before, and it was incredibly unusual.

"What is it?" Hamilton whispered softly.

"I'll handle this," Jack barked and then knelt in front of her, placing his slender hand against the nape of her neck. She trembled at the cold, but it was warm enough to give her the courage. "Snowdrop, are you okay?"

` "What's happened?"

"Um, somewhere private. Please." Morgan immediately strode forward and beckoned her to follow into Hamilton's bedroom, a room Jack never felt comfortable being in as it used to be shared with Morgan. In this instance, he didn't even let the awkward feelings surface, and shut the door. Wendy breathed quickly and took up the edge of the large Queen sized bed.

"I heard Mallory. Talking about something. With... um... Curt? I mean, I've heard that name before, but I'm not sure..."

"Curt's her uncle. Ryan's brother," Morgan nodded, urging her to go on.

"... her uncle?" Wendy sniffed and then gripped her head, a pulsing beating against her skull. "Oh no... no no no... this is bad. This is very bad..."

"Slow down, Wends, what happened? What did you hear? What's so bad?" Jack whispered to her, pulling her small body into his shivering lap. She looked between them and shut her eyes. Somehow that gave her a kind of courage and the ability to strive forwards.

"I'm a little confused, I don't quite understand what's going on, but... it sounded like... Mallory is going to see him next weekend when someone named Tiff is out..."

"Curt's wife," said Morgan.

"Mom, you're making this harder to say... and she said something like... well he sounded angry with her. Something was supposed to happen over Christmas that didn't happen, and she has to make it up now. She said... it didn't happen because she... got her period? I don't get it..." Jack stiffened as he was beginning to string together the clues, but Morgan still listened intently, not quite clear on what was happening. "Anyway... um... I'm not making this up and there's no way it could have been anything else, but... she sounded upset. Scared. Like she didn't want to do what... ever she's doing. And she sounded forced. Like he was talking her into it, and she was very um... afraid of what would happen if she didn't. I... I remember very clearly she said 'Yes, I promise I will let you touch me there.' But I don't know what that-"

"Bastard!" Morgan hissed, standing up.

"What? What's been going on? Mommy, do you know what's happening?"

"Wait, wait, Baby, are you sure that's what happened?" Jack quickly asked.

"Well, that's what I heard. And Mallory didn't like it... she hated it. But I for sure heard those words. She couldn't do something because of her period, and he wanted to touch her. And it sounded like something that's been happening a lot." Jack nodded and kissed her fiercely on the forehead.

"My darling, you have done well."

"How have I done well?"

"You might have just saved Mallory from any further damage."

"But what have I done!? I don't understand!"

"I knew something strange was happening! From the moment... Mals and that scumbag started getting close! Oh my God... wait, how long as this been going on?!" Morgan panicked.

"I don't know!" Wendy cried. "Someone please tell me!"

"Morgan, I think Linda is out in the living room crying over some season finale," Jack instructed very formally. He hadn't even finished his sentence, and she was flying out of the room, calling out her best friend's name.

"Daddy... is Mals... going to be okay?" Wendy began to sob and Jack snuggled her close to him.

"Thanks to you," he said. "My wonderful, beautiful, brave girl!"

"But... what's happening?"

"Something twisted. And disgusting," he sighed, and tried to cover up his own trembling hands so she would notice his own fear taking over him and the concern on his brow.

"I figured that out..." Wendy stated, taking in everything he had wished she wouldn't notice about his state. "But what _is_ it?!"

"Well, your mother and Linda are going to be calling people and talking and screaming for a while... I suppose we have time. Before I can explain... what is happening right now... you're ten years old. I think you need to learn a little something about couples and their bodies."

Wendy gulped.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I AM GOING TO RIP OFF HIS HEAD! I KNEW IT! ALL ALONG, A RELATIONSHIP AS CLOSE AS THAT IS NOT NATURAL!" Linda squawked as she paced around the room. Morgan picked up the table she had knocked over and tried to sweep up the candy dish that had splintered into jagged pieces. "But noooo, Ryan said 'Oh, he's just a little different, and he's down to her level.' YEAH DIFFERENT IS THE RIGHT WORD! Ugh I could... I could... Morgan, I look forward to hearing your calls from prison! I AM GOING TO MURDER HIM! REALLY, I AM! Oh my poor baby..."

"Wait, a second, Linda, we should probably talk to Ryan, confront him, confront his wife, talk to Mallory?!"

"HOW COULD SOMEONE DO THIS?! I MEAN WHAT KIND OF -"

"The stuff happening in the world, Linda, this is Pitch-"

"This _shit_ has nothing to do with Pitch!" Linda hissed at her and Morgan backed away from her accusing finger. "You know what? I know who's fault this is. And it's not Pitch's at all." Linda charged out of the living room, and the kids began popping their heads up, curious to know what all the commotion from all directions was. Morgan swung around the edge of the wall and jumped down the stairs, attempting to catch up with her friends, but she was moving at an incredible speed filled with an endurance she never even knew she had. Linda slammed the door to Hamilton's bedroom open, where Jack was calmly explaining the incident to Wendy who's mark of horror could not be wiped from her face.

"But why...? I mean he's married, he has a wife, and Mallory is family. I mean, he's cheating, she's his niece, and she's too young, why-"

"Hi hi, sorry to interrupt!" Linda panted and the first grabbed Wendy, pushing out every bit of her life energy from her back breaking hug. "Wendy, love, you... you are wonderful and amazing and I am so happy you were here today. Jack, come on, let me on your back, we're leaving."

"What?!" Jack questioned, as he suddenly found himself forced into giving the middle-aged woman a piggy back ride. "Linda, I don't – you're not seventeen anymore I can't..."

"I don't _care_! Come on, go as fast as you can."

"Where are we going?!"

"I need to have a very interesting chat with that stupid protector of love!"

* * *

**Okay. First of all. Necroid is a term I made up. I think. If it's already a word I don't know about it. If it is, don't tell me, because I was proud of that word. i have no idea what Elizabeth is playing, I made up the game. It's like a zombie apocalypse game so if it has to be something choose... the Last of Us or whatever. Is that online? I have NO idea I'm not a gamer guys, I'm just basing it off of what I see my fiance play and TobyGames. Anyway, Necroid, if you didn't figure it out. Necr- as in Necro. Like dead. Or undead. Oid as in humanesque. It's probably already a word but let me feel proud.**

**Another thing, so... a certain reader of mine and I have gotten to become really good friends, and in my sugar high and overly tired state, somehow he got onto the topic of the song "Stacy's Mom." I don't quite understand how anymore, it's all blur... anyway. She inspired me, helped with it, and I wrote Crack!Song parody to it, like sort of from the POV of Linda, but kind of me. And I guess her. And I made a half way decent recording of it too. It's a file so I would have to email it or something, but if you're interested in it, I would be okay with letting you hear it. It's called "Wendy's Dad." yeah. It's embarrassing, mortifying, and also hilarious and prideful. And I am the one singing it, and I wrote the lyrics so if you want to... I'll give it to you.**

**With that, I just hit 23 hours of being awake so... good night rosettes.**


	19. The Meaning of Companionship

**Soooo... I'm just going to put this here because everything I want to say is in the end.**

* * *

The entire way to the Love Palace, Linda was muttering obscenities under her breath. Morgan barely had a chance to talk to either of them before Linda demanded Jack get a move on, as if he were a dog in a sled race. Linda did get the chance to say she wanted to wait to talk to Mallory, but she wanted Morgan to take her phone away for the moment, should he call her back. Other than, Morgan was left to speak with Hamilton about the situation, and answer any questions Wendy might have regarding what Jack just told her.

"Linda, look I'm not sure if Cupid really -"

"If you're not sure, don't say anything!" Linda squawked, clutching his neck so her fingernail threatened his jugular, but he didn't want to say anything that may direct her attention in case he got caught in the line of fire. Instead, he pursed his lips and kept on with his pursuit to the sky above Southern Europe. They landed on the well manicured lawn before the palace with it's columns and marble structure, a fountain of a two lovers dipping in mid waltz and trees sheared to look like hearts and kissing couples, cut in such a way it was hard to tell which one was male, which one was female, if they were both male, or both female. Linda gagged at the site of the décor, which caused Jack to raise his brow. Under normal circumstances, Linda probably would have gushed at how artistic everything was. Before he had an opportunity to stop her, Linda was already plowing right through the entrance between the square hedges and bustled into the doors of the marble architecture, finding Cupid at the console before an incredibly large map of the world that took up his wall. He turned a few knobs and scrolled around it, looking at the various lines, all colors in the red family, some light, some dark. He heard the sound of Linda's shuffling and the banging of the doors, and his face cast a cheerful glow on his guests. He chuckled seductively and then clasped his hands together to flash her that winning grin of his that always halted people in their steps. However, Linda was charging straight for him without stopping, her face unfazed by the charm and influence he often had on her.

"Linda! What a beautiful sight you-" In the next instant, Linda's fist smacked right into his perfectly chiseled chin, and its impact was fierce enough that he slipped against the polished floor and landed on his stomach, moaning at the pain.

"Screw you!" she screamed before she dropped herself and continue to pound his face in. "You! Protector of love _my ass_! What the hell is the matter with you Cupid?! Do you even care what happened?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS KIND OF CRAP! You! You saved Morgan that one time, well what about my daughter!?"

"That one time... daughter... what are you... Agh!" Another one of her fists flew and his head banged against the ground. "Oh boy... you know I've slept with so many people in relationships and I get beaten up by someone I never even – Ow!"

"Linda quit it!" Jack shouted sternly, pulling on her shoulder to get her away from him, but she sliced her hand across to him as a warning to let her be. He stepped away, but frowned. Aggravated, he slammed the end of his staff down, and frost rippled across the floor. Its force was powerful enough to cast a wind flooding the area and pushing Linda into the ground. She rolled away from Cupid, curling into the fetal position. Cupid breathed and sat up, rubbing his nose and chin. Blood trickled down his face.

"Okay, I'll admit I'm confused," he said. "I don't understand why I just got the beating of my life when I've never even slept with your husband, or you. Thought about it, but decided it wasn't a very good idea considering."

"Don't understand?!" Linda screeched. "Are you stupid?! You're supposed to protect against rape and-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, what are you _talking_ about?!" Cupid interrupted, worry, shock, and an even deeper bewilderment lining his eyes and forehead. "What do you mean, _rape_? Morgan's not -" Jack shook his head and instead his lips pressed into something that said it was a little more tragic and twisted than that. Cupid blinked, looking from Jack's tortured expression and over to Linda, who was corrupted by a rage he had only ever seen when a parent truly loves their child.

"Mallory?!" he coughed in conclusion. "

"Yes, you jerk!" Linda screamed. "And you, you didn't protect her! This might have gone on for years for all we know and you little-"

"How about instead of pointing fingers, we figure this out?" Jack stepped in, holding out his arms as he tried to reason.

"I assure you, I had no idea! The last ten years have been hectic, and more hearts have been broken, more people are getting mistreated and abused, and it's hard to keep up with everything!" Cupid explained sadly as he got to his feet, but stood at a distance from the angered woman. "I may be a spirit, but I can only get to so much! And I'm only one! I work to get to everyone, and prevent as much as I can, and control emotions and desires and lessen peoples urges, but I miss people! I always have, and then things intensified with Pitch, and I'm working day and night to keep urges down and restore some concern, caring and love in people's lives."

"Did you push the wrong freaking button?!" Linda hissed. "Because someone has loved my daughter a little too much, and in a completely wrong, and twisted way. It's sick! Completely demented, and you must have slipped on your keys! Probably had some poor soul right on the control panel!"

"Hey now, that is the one area of this place I refuse to have sex on!" Cupid defended. "For exactly that reason." Jack looked around the room in horror, trying to find someone to step but knowing that meant there was nowhere that was safe to be. He gulped. "Linda, there are 7 billion people in the world. And I work to keep the world pure and practicing love in the way it should be, but I can only do so much. I can mess with desires, urges, and influence so much. In reality, I do not have control over people and if they really want to set their mind to something, they'll do it. That's a part of their free will. If I see they're going to do something, then I'll fly in but I only have two hands and two eyes, and I'm alone, and I can't work on 7 billion people at once. It just doesn't work."

"But why my daughter?! Why didn't you spend extra time on her?!"

"I can't believe -" Cupid scoffed speechlessly. "Extra time?! I can't spend extra time on anyone! I can't pick favorites, that's _exactly _the reason I can't have a relationship! If I spend extra time on one person, that means less time watching everyone else! I know as a mother, you think your daughter's more special than anyone else, but _everyone_ in the world deserves my equal time and deserves respect!"

"She's seventeen and was molested by her forty-five year old uncle, Cupid!" The spirit took a step back, throat moving as he worked to keep down the vomit that was working its way to his mouth. His chest heaved and he struggled to make his mouth form the right words.

"That's... disgusting. And every time something... like that occurs I... I find it hard to... be … remain sensible. Um... Linda... all I can tell you is... I am terribly sorry! I mean know that does nothing and can do nothing to change all of this, but I am going to fight against it and work to get that asshole what he deserves, and... I'll definitely keep an eye on her. But I still can't spend more time helping her than I would anyone else! I have to keep the whole world-"

"Who would _do_ something like that?" Linda whispered, beginning her attack of tears. "Who would be so... sick.. and disgusting... I mean how? I don't even understand how you could be... how you could want to be involved with your family like that... and especially when they're so young... and I mean he's married, what... I don't get it... she's... my Mals." Cupid dared to get closer and drop to her crumpled frame on the floor, offering a pure hug and letting her weep on her shoulder.  
"I can only offer up so much and do so much. I have other people to look out for, but I am not going to sit back and do nothing, I promise you that. I still have to try and increase people's desires to care for one another. I've been fighting against theirs fears and depression because Pitch is stronger than I am right now. But I am going to do something."

"My baby... my sweet girl..." Linda wept and sniffled while she was rocked by Cupid. She dug her fingers into his arms and her arms quivered under the weight of her grief. "I am going to kill that son of a..."

"I believe it," Jack said. "And I won't stop you either."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Linda had somehow found her sanity again and Cupid had gone through Curt Lichter's profile, Jack took the broken woman to the Barry house. They decided it would be best to get everything out while Wendy was still around and they gathered into Hamilton's room again. Jack being the most calm and least on the edge of breaking down as the rest of them had gone to fetch Mallory and led her into the room. Seeing her mother, Jack, Morgan, and Wendy all with sunken faces and ready to fall apart in one room made her look around nervously.

"Are you all here to tell me that _Sherlock_ is canceled?" she asked cheekily. "Because I really do not know if I can go on with my life if that's the case."

"No, Snow White," Jack said, trying to lighten everything up a bit. Mallory groaned and crossed her arms.

"Mal, please sit," Morgan asked. With great care, she sat in the center of the large bed and picked at a loose fabric on her shirt. "Linda?"

"Is... um... have you and... I mean.. are you..." she stammered, wiping her eyes. "I can't, I'm sorry, I can't..."

"it's okay," Jack said, putting his arm around her quickly and then rubbing her back. "Mallory... we want to know if there's something going on with you and your uncle Curt." Her eyes flashed with the evidence of her answer and for a second, her muscles tensed with guilt. She took in a sharp breath and blinked for a second, her eyes staring into the corners of her eyes.

"What is that even supposed to mean... that's... that's a very strange question, who... I mean, that's not funny."

"No, it isn't. And let me remind you how good my wife is at reading lies." Morgan tensed, but crinkled her brow as she saw through Mallory's transparent falsehood. With the reminder, Mallory looked over to her almost aunt and her shoulders fell back. Grief swam over her expression and she hung her arms to her sides, very still, defeated.

"How did you find out?" she squeaked.

"Wendy," Jack said.

"But she doesn't even understand-!"

"She does now," Jack explained to her. "And she's known what a period is for a few years yet, which is pretty strange when you're talking to your uncle about it, in whispers, and she could figure out your phone conversation was something incredibly suspicious and wrong. It's not hard to figure out an uncle and his niece should not be talking like that. She was scared, so she told us what she heard. What else were we to do, but tell your mother? And I wasn't going to leave Wendy in the dark when it was clear this was a big deal. So once I gave a very brief explanation of what sex was, I told her what we thought happened with you and Curt."

"But we need to verify that is what happening," Morgan told her, reaching for her hand. Linda moved over the bed and pulled her grown daughter into her lap, caressing her hair. She kissed her forehead and simply held onto her to keep her close. The warmth of her mother seemed to give Mallory a courage and she sobbed, her words tumbling on her tears.

"It is! Okay, it's exactly what you think! He forces me to do things, ad I hate every moment of it! I have to swallow my puke and I can't look at boys at school without thinking they'll all be him some day, that some of them are! And I hate it!"

"How long?" Linda finally asked.

"Since my twelfth birthday..." Mallory whispered. "Every holiday we see him, and every visit when everyone is in the kitchen." She coughed when the tears dropped into her mouth and Linda patted her back. "Wendy, how did you even hear me? Weren't you watching a movie?"

"I went into Elizabeth's room to talk with my friends." Jack and Morgan looked at her curiously. "Tell you later. Anyway, your door was open and I heard you. Mallory, what he does isn't good. You don't do that to family. And you don't do that to kids. And you don't do that to your wife."

"He told me that... when I was little... a twelve year old should not look... as good as I do." Jack turned his face away at the comment, feeling a little tight in the stomach with how much the comment revolted him. "Said something about how he missed being with a young thing, and that he's sick of his wife always working, but he never gets to see any other girls."

"Why didn't you say something...?" Linda muttered into her hair, rubbing Mallory's arm while her tears ran down her shoulder.

"Well, he's the one paying for my tuition at college. So I thought 'If I just let it be until I go to college and he gives me that money, it will be fine.' If I told anyone, he said he wouldn't let me see. And I know you grew up poorer than us, mom, but it's not like we have any savings."

"My darling, who cares?! I would rather have you safe and not go to college, if that's the case! But we'll find a way for you to go!"

"I can start up sculpting again." Jack suggested.

"But the money is never ever ever worth something like this!" Mallory began to bawl again.

"I'm a horrible person!" she screamed. "I can't believe I... I'm so stupid, I'm such a coward."

"No, no, no," Everyone began to say at once, and reaching to assure her she was not the one to blame.

"It's all his fault. Everything," Morgan told her.

"And as sick as it is that it happens enough for me to even say this," Jack spat. "But you're not alone. You know my sister Sophie? She was raped by a boyfriend she had."

' "But... it was her boyfriend..."

"Doesn't matter. She didn't want it."

"What did he do?" Morgan asked and then Wendy blushed, turning to her father.

"Can I go?" she squeaked and he nodded before hugging her tightly and kissing her all over her face.

"Wendy, wait," he told her, taking her arm before she headed out while Mallory talked in really low tones to the women. "Just... know that I love you, okay? And if... something like this happens to you. Ever. Or if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable in anyway, get away from them and tell someone. Even the smartest people, like Mallory can end up... getting hurt. And especially since you're... getting older and your mother and I are letting you out in the world more often... and with Pitch... nothing is worth it. You hear me? Nothing."

"I promise Daddy," she smiled. "And I love you too." He dropped her arm and leaned in closer to try and give Mallory some comfort while Wendy escaped the thickest atmosphere of the most awkward and uncomfortable room she had ever been in. She wandered back into Elizabeth's room, where her sister was stretched out on her bed, holding a book open in front of her face. She waved to her, but Bess noticed the lining of tears reddening her eyes and the unbalanced way she was walking around the room. Elizabeth sat up and waited patiently for Wendy to say something, knowing something really major had happened to cause her to be so upset. Wendy took the computer off the desk and propped it open, clicking on the video calling application and breathing happily when she spotted her new friends were online again. She put them in a call and the ringing was cut short by the sudden answer.  
"Well, hello, Wend – oh no," Zeta gasped dramatically, her hands covering her mouth. Dylan looked up, eyebrows raised and his expression changing a little from its usually melancholy drop. "Why do you look so sad? Are you hurt?" Elizabeth slid off the bed and sat beside her so she was in view of the camera.

"Something really bad has happened to my cousin!" Wendy wept, Elizabeth pulling her to her chest. "And it's really, really bad! I don't even know if I can say it..."

"Mallory?" Elizabeth guessed, and Wendy's movement of her head confirmed her suspicions.

"Well, we're staying here until you can," Dylan said, sounding much more positive than it had since the day Wendy first met him. "We're your first friends ever, right? I personally want that ever to be _for_ever so. We'll be here forever."

* * *

**With the end of that, I do recognize that this chapter may have been really hard for some of my readers. So I want to address that if you have been abused or violated in anyway shape or form, please do NOT be afraid to get a hold of me and I will be here to help you with whatever it is you need help with! Or even if it's been "settled" but you are struggling with memories or depression or any other anxiety issue because of it, you can talk to me. I am here to listen, even if I am not a very good help. And I understand *a little* of the trauma and the pain from something like this. I myself had... sexual assault too. Or even if it has nothing to do with, and you just need to talk, even if it was something like a hard day at school... I am here. And I will listen.**

**On a happier note, come and join Guardians Arising! it's an RP site, i think the most popular ROTG RP site. OCs are welcome! The people are fantastic and it's a lot of fun!**

**I am now going to head to bed. Night my lovelies. See you next time!**


	20. The Search to Open Up

**Guys I know I have been slacking in my writing. And I apologize for that. I have had a rough last few days, and a few busy ones, and it's going to get,... harder. Tomorrow, I go back to class. And maybe that will even mean I can update more because I'll be in a focusing mood, I don't know. Anyway, it's also been really hot and it's hard to do anything when you feel like you're melting. But I PROMISE I will still update regularly. It just may not be every night. But like I said before, I am going to get one up once a week, and hopefully more.**

* * *

Wendy let her face fall forwards onto her stack of papers in front of her that she was supposed to be going over, but her mind had been overloaded with material on top of the stresses from the last few weeks.

"Wendy, again, please," Morgan begged patiently.

"Ugh..." she mumbled. "Bonum est te, amigra meyer."

"Amica mea!" Morgan sighed with frustrated. "Why is it, now that you have the first part down, you don't have the second part down?"

"Because I don't care! Dylan says that it's weird I'm learning Latin, because Latin's a dead language! Nobody learns it! People learn Spanish, French, Chinese, sometimes Italian, and German. And even Russian! Never Latin!"

"As true as that is, I think it is far more important to learn Latin than anything else! It will be the most useful language you will ever know," Morgan nodded and tapped at the sheet of phrases. "Come on, you're still in the beginning stages. We need you to at least be able to hold a conversation in Latin."

"With who, the Pope?!" Wendy yelled with the roll of her eyes. Licorice barked as if laughing and Wendy smiled, proud of herself. Morgan crossed her arms and looked to her daughter.

"If you learn Latin, it is so much easier to pick up any language in the world. Besides that Latin-"

"-is the language of ecclesiastical associations, scholars, and history," Wendy mimicked, mastering her mother's voice pretty closely, which did nothing to impress Morgan. "Mom, I believe there is a _Man_ in the _Moon_ and give him my worries and think there's a Boogeyman manipulating dreams and that my mother controls humidity and dew, and my father brings the winter and frost. Not exactly the kind of person a church would want."

"I don't know, North is a pretty big believer in Jesus," Morgan argued jokingly. Wendy huffed.

"I'm not getting a job in a church, and I don't care about history. And at the rate you've been going I'm not even going to be able to go to college to _be_ a scholar, because you want to dominate my studies and never let me go to school in the real world! My Latin can stay at Mea Culpa, Vini Vidi Vici, Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus, and Carpe Diem, and I'm just fine!"

"But what if something happens and you would need to know another language quickly?" Morgan asked with strenuous worry on her voice.

"When would that need to happen?!"

"Well, when I was 17, your father and I went to Austria and I didn't know German and I got hypothermia..."

"Do I want to know how you got hypothermia?" Wendy wondered dully, elbow beginning to slip on the papers in front of her. Morgan stopped herself mid speech and then widened her expression, shooting a glance of shock to her daughter.

"Wendy!" she accused. "Just... don't talk like that." She smirked, pleased to see the rogue clouding her mother's milk white cheeks. She flicked a pen around dully just as Licorice was galloping towards her and running his head into her leg with a small ball in his mouth. She reached below the table and chucked the ball, watching as the enthusiastic animal slipped on the rug while he scurried to go after his toy. "Focus, Wends!"

The door opened up and the whistle of the swirling snow outside flooded into the room. Ignoring her mother's request, she launched herself off the chair and bolted towards the man covered in ice who stood in the doorway. She plowed into his abdomen, loving the tickle of the ice ferns caressing her face. Jack lifted her and kissed her cheek.

"Canada is experiencing some major snow storms right now, and I decided to go a little light with Russia. Although most of Europe is facing hazardous roads with the layers of ice I created. I might have had a little too much fun sliding on the roads," Jack admitted cautiously. "Good news, though, I decided not to drop pounds of snow on France this time."

"What about Sweden!?" Morgan begged. Jack stroked her hair and gave her devilish grin.

"Yes, I threw a snowball at the Prime Minister, as promised," he chuckled.

"Yay!" she laughed and the gave him another hug. Jack leaned over her, to look at the papers and the notebook filled with the ancient words.

"You're teaching her Latin?" he asked with a concerned furrow. Morgan tapped her foot and unleashed her explosion that she must have been holding in for some time.

"Yes, and she's being very difficult! What's the matter with Latin?! I mean I know she doesn't like history, but she sits through it with hardly any complaining. Maybe she rolls her eyes, but at least she takes it! What's with Latin?!"

"Maybe she doesn't want to learn Latin?" Jack guessed and Wendy nodded at her mother.

"It's not a matter of wanting, it's a necessity!"

"How is learning Latin, necessary?" he wondered. "Explain how her life would be incomplete without knowing Latin, ever!"

"She... wouldn't... know what historical artifacts say, or old documents in church..."

"All of which have English translations. Morgs, there is no one alive today who speaks Latin as their native tongue and spends their time having conversations in it. You and I both know Latin fluently. When do we even talk in Latin?"

"Uhhhh..."

"You've been a lot more stressed about her work than ever," he expressed, dropping his arm from around Wendy.

"She won't listen! She listens to you!"

"That's because I listen to what she wants to do. If it's not necessary to her education and life, then I don't teach it. Teach her something like... Chinese or something."

"I don't know Chinese! The only language I can teach her is Yeti and Latin!"

"Then I'll teach her something. Wenders, what would you like to learn for a language?"

"Well... Dylan and Zeta are both learning French so... French!" she laughed.

"It's those friends, I knew it," Morgan moaned. "They are telling her about their school curriculum and she's basing it off of what they do."

"And what's so wrong with that?" Jack challenged with a condescending chuckle in his voice. Morgan heard his tone and rested her hands on her sides, giving him a daring scowl.

"Because she's at a 10th grade reading level, a 7th grade math level, an 8th grade science level, and a 6th grade history level! And I'm really disappointed in that history level!"

"Morgan, you realize you're turning into your mother in a different way?"

"Oh, please, Jack, my mother wasn't that bad."

"She wouldn't let you be yourself," he said with calmness in his voice. "She's ten, Morgan. On earth, she would be in fourth grade, maybe fifth. How about letting her be ten every once in a while. Yes, she's smart, and that's amazing, but she's _that_ smart because she has nothing better to do than study!" Morgan's mouth gaped, but there was no string of words. He placed his hands on Wendy's shoulders, playing with the ends of her hair. She grinned up at her father, convinced he had won this argument. But he didn't look to please, and turned his lips into grief. "Morgan... maybe you're getting more strict on her learning, and she's being more difficult because of the two of you keep thinking about the trial, and Curt's sentence."

"I'm not thinking about that," Wendy said. "He can go to jail and rot. Zeta said her cousin's friend had the same happen with her mother when she was seven and she got in prison for life!"

"Wendy!" Morgan slowly said. "I don't know if I'm happy that you've been talking to your friends about this."

"Well, who am I supposed to talk to? Licorice licks my face and that's all!" Right at that moment, the growing dog wagged its tail and rubbed his tongue on her face. "Ugh. And you two are always gone. It makes me mad. And sad. Nothing like this has ever happened to anyone I know, and... it..." she stammered looking off to something away from the kitchen. "I knew Pitch was bad, but I didn't know..."

"Let's get one thing straight, Snowdrop," Jack started. "Pitch may or may not have been involved. It is certainly possible he did something to mess with his fears and dreams that may have encouraged him, but it's also possible, he acted of his own will and would have done it anyway. We do not know exactly what it was, and we may never find out. There are some people out there who will do bad things no matter what, so Pitch may not be the blame for this. No matter what though, it was Curt who did it, and Curt who must pay the price. So it is his fault."

"Now who sounds compassionate towards the Boogeyman?" Morgan said with sarcasm.

"I'm explaining!" he defended. "You can go call your friends. Class is over for now." Wendy beamed as she skipped away from him and through the hall to her bedroom. The door shut carefully behind her.

"Jack, I wasn't done teaching her!" Morgan said as Jack picked up the scattered work.

"Yes, you were. She didn't want to learn Latin."

"But... you teach her in the summer! It's my turn right now!"

"We're still supposed to decide together on what we teach her, correct?" he said with prodding.

"You said-"

"No, I said, ask her first."

"But she wants to learn what her friends learn. This... Zeta and Dylan."

"She wants to be on the same page. Now that she has people her age to reference, she wants to learn what they do. It's perfectly natural. And she'll have us meet them when she's ready."

"They're making her seem so..."

"Human?" Jack chuckled. "I think it's good for her. One day, she's going to want to get married and have her own kids, and she'll have to live in a city with a job and everything and she needs to learn. Of course if it happens, it won't happen til she's forty, but you know. She should know it. And they're helping her, while giving her friendship."

"But French?!"

"And, what's wrong with French, mon cherie?" he whispered in a low tone, sauntering to where she stood in the kitchen and pulling her body to him. Morgan reddened but refused to give in, turning away.

"Stop it."

"Amour de ma vie..."

"Jack..." her protests were becoming weaker along with her defenses. Her body was responding to his touches, filling her with electricity. She ripped herself from his grip before she surrendered and pulled out the ice box to grab some chicken. "You're stereotyping, you know. I met some French people who were real jerks."

"Some of my favorite things are french, you know. Creme brulee, crepes, mousse, filet mignon, kissing..."

"Quiet," she told him, faking a scoff to however up desiring shudder. Jack slipped behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pushing his cold fingers gently into her stomach just below her ribcage. "Okay, okay, I'll drop the Latin! She can learn French!"

"I knew you couldn't resist my allure."

"Not even Cupid uses his charms to convince people to go his way."

"That's because Cupid doesn't need to convince anyone. Just being around him, they'll automatically listen. It's incredibly annoying," he sighed in exasperation. Morgan looked at the broken envelope resting on the counter and frowned at the scrawled address on it. Jack moved his hand so he was interlacing his fingers with her own and left the kiss of frost on her cheek. "You're thinking about the trial, aren't you?"

"I just... When I last went down there, we sat at the table. Ryan, Linda, and Mallory. I was there, holding Mallory's hand, and Ryan couldn't even speak. Mostly, it was Linda, repeating what I said, and Mallory kept quiet because if she didn't, she would start to weep. Ryan looked... so old. He was so hurt, and so angry that he was stunned into silence. He would try to say something, and then just flex his hand and slam at the table. After that uncomfortable half hour, he told Linda that Curt was clever. He has a way of talking his way out of the law. He never once got a speeding ticket, he got drunk once and broke into a department store, and somehow got away Scot free. And he's taken money from the register in his job and didn't get fired. He's good with words, good with appeal, and good at hiding evidence."

"What did the doctor say when Mallory was checked over?" Jack wondered and Morgan turned to face him.

"Well, it's clear that Mallory's not a virgin."

"Then that should be enough."

"Uh, no it's not," Morgan said firmly. "She's seventeen, Jack. For all we know... and though I believe Mallory when she said she never slept with any guy and her parents do too, it's evidence that will be the only thing that holds up in court. And there's no evidence. I mean, if we found this out when she was twelve already and the doctor made that discovery, that might be something. But she's almost an adult, and there's nothing they can test. It's been months since he last..." Morgan grimaced, but Jack nodded to show he understood. "I'm just afraid he can somehow talk his way out of this and she'll be seen as having a mental illness or lying or something. Or that her 'cousin' Wendy, was mistaken and misheard." Jack pushed the envelope away and smiled.

"Not going to happen," he said.

"But what if-"

"Am I or am I not married to a woman who is so talented and determined to find the truth?" he reminded her with a raised eyebrow. Her lips cut into impressed joy and she turned back into his embrace, kissing his lips tenderly.

"But that means I'll be gone even more!" she whined, and caressed his face. "By day, an investigator, by night Boogeyman hunter."

"So you would be a detective during the day and a superwoman at night? You have no idea how sexy that is..." he growled.

"What about you? What about Wendy and her education?" she continued to ask, ignoring Jack's come ons.

"Well... I still am gone sometimes during the day and night, creating winter havoc everywhere I go and having fun. I could take Wendy -"

"No!" she snapped quickly.

"Well, maybe it would be a good opportunity for her. She could stay with her brother and sister, in that spare room. While you search for evidence, and I'm out doing my job, she could spend some time with them, and their friends. As for education, she's pretty advanced for her age. How about we give her a break from some of that for a while, and let her be a normal kid for a bit? If it ends up taking a while for you to find evidence, we'll figure out something."

"But she-"

"Great talk!" he interrupted and kissed her nose. "Wendy! Your mother and I have something we want to talk to you about!" Morgan groaned and began to angrily chop up the chicken.

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**This is where we're REALLY going to meet Zeta and Dylan, and I am so happy and excited to introduce them to you :3 **

**I have nothing against Sweden or its Prime Minister. I actually know nothing about him. I just thought it was funny. (And Jack is supposed to be from somewhere in Scandinavia so...)  
**

**I do not know Latin, but I want to learn really badly. For all the reasons explained.**

**And yes, Jack knows Latin because in his time, when he was growing up, it was very common for kids to learn that in school so I imagine he would know it.**

**Hopefully the next chapter will be up within the next couple of days. I'm nervous, terrified, and excited for school tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.**

**And once again, come join Guardians Arising! I play Elizabeth Barry, Hiccup, and now Dani Phantom (but not Danny Phantom. Danielle Phantom, his third cousin once removed.)**

**See ya later guys! Rosie out.**


	21. Getting A Break

**I'm really really really upset at myself for not updating this as often as the last one. Looking, i know FF readers are the most patient people and by writers standards, I'm actually doing pretty good, and I know that you know and I know I still have a life and rigorous work and study... but like honestly, it's not even that. I haven't worked in four days, and yet it still took me three days to get this up because I have just been so DAMN exhausted! I was falling asleep - and I mean ACTUALLY FALLING ASLEEP at 7:30 PM! But I HAD to get my homework done, so I went and made half a cup of coffee, so I would actually sleep at a decent time tonight, and that woke me up enough so I had just been on a roll. Maybe that's the answer huh? I don't even KNOW why I'm so tired, I sleep 8 hours a night! But I just... agh! So I am SORRY I feel horrible...**

**Anyway, I like this chapter so enjoy.**

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The small body of the ten year old bounced with enthusiasm as the doorbell squealed and she rushed to answer it. She had already spent two days of her long, indefinite stay with her brother and sister and now was getting the opportunity to hang out with real friends, for the first time. Her mother was out that day, currently on her mission to investigate the situation regarding Mallory and Curt, but Jack purposely let most of the world have a pretty warm day for the end of February, determined to meet these friends of his daughters and get a feel for them. The young girl's dark hair was tied up high on her, using a bright green clip with black thunderbolts on it, in the shape of a heart. It had been given to her by Cupid, just that past Valentine's Day, much to Jack's annoyance. She wore it now, a special piece for this special occasion s she spun around the door frame and then politely opened the door, Jack just behind her.

Smiling pleasantly with her hands perfectly folded in front of her pastel blue felt coat that extended just beyond her knees, and face hidden under a mess of her short shocking red hair. Behind her stood Dylan, dark green cap pulled over his head and looking slightly impatient from where he stood, his crossed arms crushing into his black parka.

"Oh, Wendy!" she whispered in surprise, and then her hazel eyes found Jack standing behind her. "Oh my... you're Jack Frost!" Politely, she dipping into a quick courtesy and then smiled so her cheeks were just as red as her hair. "How good it is to meet you, Mr. Frost!"

"Jack is fine," he corrected, nose wrinkling at being called Mr. Frost. Dylan's eyes grew very round when he looked at the boy in blue and ice standing behind Wendy and for a second his eyes flickered with immense surprise.

"You were serious," he said, his tone only changing mildly. "Jack Frost really is your father." Wendy laughed and nodded, seeming to grow a little taller with her pride swelling.

"Isn't it great?!" she said.

"Zeta, right?" Jack guessed, holding out his hand. She blushed again and then nervously extended her hand, pulling it back just as quickly. Dylan gave him a firm handshake, something that came off as manly, to which Jack only smirked at. "And you're Dylan."

"Yes, that's right," Zeta said quietly. "So you're... letting Wendy stay a while?"

"She explained the whole thing to you?" he guessed and the redheaded girl looked down at the ground, shyly moving her booted foot across the welcome mat.

"Yes, um... she did..." she barely said, almost afraid it was a bad thing Wendy had told them everything.

"Well, we don't know how this is going to go on, so I expect you to give her plenty of companionship and fun, all right?" From inside the house came the bark of the dog. "Oh, and Licorice too. Can't let him be by himself too much."

"Licorice! You're supposed to do that outside... Dad!" Nathan yelled from inside. In a haste, Wendy ran out just as Hamilton was yelling at her, and Jack slipped out just as quickly.

"Remember what I said?" Jack told her, crouching to her so they were at eye level.

"Yes, Dad," she agreed. "I'll stay with them."

"And your mother gave you the emergency cell phone?" Wendy produced the small, generic phone, with a small screen and nothing more than a twelve button key pad. It was the pay as you go phone Morgan would have on her when they were visiting Pennsylvania, or anywhere else they may be they could get a signal. There were no cell phone towers in the North Pole, but after an incident that happened when Wendy was six and she got lost, they thought it best to have one. "Good girl."

"We're just going sledding, and we're going with Zeta's dad," Wendy said with frustrated eyes.

"But Pitch is still-"

"I know," she smiled and then wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now where's my nip?" Jack grinned and pressed his lips to her nose.

"Make sure the snow is good for sledding!" Dylan bellowed quickly and then tried to hide under the collar of his coat. "I mean, it would be useless to sled without good snow."

"I'll do what I can," Jack chuckled, while Zeta looked at her friend with a surprised stare. "Have fun, Snowdrop." He launched himself into the air, using his staff as leverage and while Zeta unleashed something between a gasp and a shriek at the trick, Dylan raised his eyebrows with interest, but there was no other inclination of being amused by the action. Smiling, he bolted off, bouncing on the air currents.

"Oh my goodness..." Zeta giggled girlishly. "Your father... Wendy he's... he's wonderful..."

"Yeah, he's pretty awesome," Wendy said as she followed her friends to Mr. Ralston's van.

"No, I just mean, um... well, never mind." Wendy blinked and then turned to stare at her friend with confusion and disgust.

"Zeta are you saying you think my dad is hot?!" she screamed and Dylan chuckled quietly at her reaction.

"Well, um... he doesn't even look old enough to have children..."

"He's like 350!" Wendy squawked just as Dylan pulled open the sliding door to the vehicle and directed the girls to step inside first. Wendy made no moment of recognizing his action, but Zeta smiled at him politely and Wendy just jumped in. "Hi, Mr. Ralston! I'm Wendy!"

"Hey," he greeted, smiling with his eyes in the mirror.

"Back on the subject, _what_?! I mean, seriously, wow..."

"I was, um... only making a comment..." she muttered shyly, looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," Dylan offered as the car began to move. "Watch us at the mall some time. Every other guy she sees, she'll think is good looking. And Wendy's just surprised, she doesn't really mean it, Zeta." He gripped her shoulder firmly, and Zeta's face softened. Wendy observed this reaction, noting how familiar they both seemed to be with it. It seemed to be something that happened often with them, as if Dylan was protective of her. Wendy pursed her lips in thought.

"So you think Dylan is good looking then?" Zeta laughed lightly.

"Dylan's been my best friend since we were three. I think that's like, a crime in places. It would be weird."

"So Dylan's like what Nathan is to me."

"Yeah, basically."

"Okay, so I figured out this plan with you and school," said Dylan, launching into a more excited tone as he produced something looked similar to an smart phone, but was clearly not a smart phone. It fit in the palm of his hand and had a black screen, an a light on top. On the sides were several silver buttons, made lighter against its black surface. "This is Pocket Camcorder. I know you said you might miss a lot of school, so I thought this would be good. You can't enroll in our school since you have no idea how long you'll be, so I thought I could set this up and record our lessons, and then email you the video and you could watch it and learn."

"That's a really neat idea!" Wendy praised and Dylan seemed to glow a little at her comment, giving her a small smirk.

"And then, you obviously won't have homework, but you seem to be more advanced than Zeta and I with your homeschooling, but you could help us."

"I would love to!" Wendy laughed. "It will give me something to do too! I can watch the previous day's lesson while you're in class!" Dylan nodded and then tucked away the camera, just as they turned and an incredibly steep, while hill came into view, with hundreds of kids jumping off it on sleds and tubes, and families crowded together in toboggans. Wendy clapped excitedly, joyous in knowing she was going to be just like every other kid on a snow day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She hissed when she felt something hit her shin in the dark. Morgan cursed at the pain shooting up her leg and growled at the object in the dark. She had maneuvered her way into Curt Lichter's house and and she felt diseased just being there. Upstairs, she could hear him and his wife shouting, as they had been doing the past two weeks. All she could make out was that she didn't believe anything he said, but she had not found any evidence to back it up. That both soothed and scared Morgan. It could mean there was no evidence but speak off, but she was his wife and he was probably good at hiding things from her. She wasn't invisible to him and didn't have the ability to slip through the house unseen. This was one of the advantages being invisible had.

When she went through the plan with Linda, she had informed her, rather emotionally, that adjacent the formal dining area was a small office space, where Curt had performed much of his at home accounting information. Morgan had thought that if there was to be documented proof he may stash it away in there, but was also concerned that his wife may already have gone through it. Even so, a second look wouldn't hurt and she decided to slip into the office at that moment. Having gotten more the hang of what she could do with her abilities, Morgan had slipped water in between the door and the frame, working the force of the water to slide back the deadbolt. When the door loosened, she stepped inside and made sure to lock it behind her, lest he should come inside. She looked around the simple set up; a small desk, surrounded by papers, a laptop, and a lamp. A window, one short wall with books, and a picture of him and his wife on their wedding day. She took a second to look at it, saddened by how happy they looked at that time, and wondering how in the world someone could change so much, or be something so disgusting. She sighed, and turned away from it, not wanting to suddenly start crying when she had a mission to carry out.

Morgan first ran through his drawers, finding nothing but clientele documents, faxes, sheets of paper with statistics, numbers, and money estimates she didn't understand. She tossed aside anything relating to his job and then put them back just as she found them, groaning at the water droplets she left on the ink. Morgan sat down and began to scan through his files, searching for something that would relate to what she was looking for. She shook her head at everything she searched through his computer. There were several files with clients names that were password protected for confidentiality, and raised her eyebrows at them with suspicion. Taking the drawers out of their spots again, she searched through the papers, and matched up the clients names. Everything matched up, and she figured they were true clients. She ignored the files and went through his internet history. Cleaner than the snow just before Licorice decided to make a mess in it. Sighing hopelessly, she clicked on through his other files, filled with family pictures, and grimaced at the ones at family reunions where he was standing a little too close to Mallory, who had the strangest of smiles, as if she were uncomfortable. Morgan eyed it curiously, wondering if it would be enough to convict him. Five minutes of staring gave her the conclusion that the picture could be interpreted a number of ways and was not substantial evidence. She took a moment to slap her palm against her forehead, wondering what else she could look at.

Her palm touched the small, square pouch attached to her hip. She flipped the phone up and dialed Linda's cell number, growing worried until she picked up after the fifth ring.

"I'm at work, what is it?" she whispered. "Please tell me you found something on Curt, because that's the only legitimate reason I have for answering my cell at work."

"I haven't..." she moaned. "I've hit a dead end. I've gone through his computer and there's nothing. I've gone through his files and there's nothing. And it doesn't sound like his wife can find anything either, but she doesn't believe him. If his wife can't find anything..."

"There's nothing? Absolutely nothing?"

"Well, all he has are password protected files regarding information on clients, but that's for confidential reasons, and all these papers in here, match up. These are all legitimate clients of his. None of these names are fake."

"There's got to be something!"

"Well, I can't do anything about his history. It's clean," she stated.

"And I know nothing about computers." Morgan flipped through the papers once again, muttering over and over to her friend about how there wasn't a trace of him doing anything inappropriate and on the outside he looked like a man who was simply very good at accounting and led a boring and stressful life. Then she stopped her tongue, staring at the dates on the documents.

"Morgan?" Linda asked. "Please tell me you were distracted because some crazy shirtless man walked past the window in the middle of winter or... you know... you _found_ something?!"

"Well, I... I'm not sure it makes a difference. All of these clients have papers from within the last month, so they're all recent. Except one. Kyle Savoski. I'm looking, I'm looking... but I'm not seeing anything more recent than dating five years back... Let's see, S-A-V, S-A-V... nope. Five years back."

"Morgan... is your smarty-smart brain working its factual magic?" Morgan clicked on the computer and tried to open the file.

"It's password protected."

"Guess?"

"It needs to be hacked."

"And I need Curt to be thrown in prison and rot! Uh, this is a really important phone call, Lance! I promise!" A creek as the door popped opened startled Morgan, and she muttered a hasty goodbye. She slipped into the shadows created by the casting of moonlight and hid in the corner, despite the fact she would not be seen. Curt walked in, his eyes red with emotion, but Morgan could not be pulled to feel sympathy for him. Instead, her blood burned with the rage and desire to slice him open and rip apart his body. Still, she stayed back as he walked around the desk and sat in front of his laptop, scratching his head for a moment when he pondered whether or not he had closed it. He opened the files, clicking on the file about Kyle, and Morgan watched him carefully, as he typed in the world's longest and most complicated password, but typed the letters, numbers, and symbols into her phone. It was backed by another file, with another password, that had the same characters, but in a different order. Once again, there was a third one, with the same kind of password, jumbled up. Then, it opened to pictures that were very clearly Mallory and very clearly obscene.

Caught somewhere between the feelings of boasting victory, fiery anger, and the urgency to throw up, she escaped the room before she could witness anything else disturbing.

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**Those who asked, I love all my classes! I am going to really enjoy this semester!**

**Also, picture Chris Pine, dressed as a 50s bad boy. And you have a guy in my Creative Writing class. Who sounds like him. Who writes on a typewriter. And loves Mozart. Yep. Just picture that for a bit.**

**Also please tell my obnoxious partying neighbors to STOP PARTYING.**

**And once again, come join Guardians Arising! I play Elizabeth Barry, Hiccup, and now Dani Phantom (but not Danny Phantom. Danielle Phantom, his third cousin once removed.)**

**See ya later guys! Rosie out and passing out.**


	22. Know Your Place

**FINALLY! I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER THE PAST FEW DAYS BUT EVERYTHING JUST UGGGGHHH. So here guys I am sorry here it is, finally, you have waited too long. I've been so busy and running everywhere that i just can't get a moment to - *sigh* Here. Read, please. Listen to me rant no more.**

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Wendy tried her best to ignore Zeta's heavy panting, increasing by the minute from her intense fear. She hugged her knees while her anxiety grew from the display before her. She gnawed on the skin on the tips of her fingers while Dylan shouted demands at Zeta, who was busy succumbing to her stress. Wendy could feel the buzz and itching creeping up her spine, pushing her to try and take Zeta's place, but she remained in her spot.

"No no no no no!" Zeta cried as her character collapsed before the bottom half of the screen faded to black. She whimpered and slid the controller away from her, staring at the floor sadly. "I'm sorry, Dylan, I just can't do it. I am trying so hard to help you fight these guys..."

"I said we didn't have to play," he said, taking her controller away and shutting off the game.

"I know but I really wanted to do something you enjoyed and help you out. I'm sorry I don't like video games..."

"Zeta..." he moaned, rolling his eyes with repeated annoyance. "It's okay..."

"And now I made you upset..." she sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Dylan reached to turn off the system and then patted Zeta's back as she began to sniffle at her actions, all of which were blameless. Since Morgan had started investigating Curt, and she and Jack were out at night locating Pitch, Wendy had spent much of her time adjusting to domestic life. During the day, she would be spending time with Elizabeth and Nate, and was expected to help with chores. Being around Hamilton was a difficult thing for her, for sure. Often, whenever she and her parents visited, he was too nice to her, affectionate even, and that bothered her. She understood the situation, especially now, and knew that Hamilton still loved her mom, and Jack knew that too. Her dad seemed to trust him and believed nothing would happen. Wendy thought the same thing too. Hamilton was a good father, and more important, a good person. But seeing him with her mother made her sick. Only Jack could be that way with her. It was Jack and Morgan, not Hamilton and Morgan. He had tried hard to make Wendy feel at home, and she was forced to sit at meals with them... but she still tried to stay away from him as much as possible. During the day, when the kids were at school and before Hamilton went to work, he would bring Wendy to the library where she would sit and watch the videos Dylan filmed from class. Even though most of the material explained where things she had learned about, especially when it came to history, she noticed parts of the curriculum were not the same as what she had learned, and that was the interesting part to her. She loved it when they covered a new subject and was excited when she could talked with Dylan and Zeta about it later. When she talked about it, it saddened her at times, as she wanted to have the same classroom setting as them. She wanted to know what it was like to be a kid, living on Earth, and now that she was getting a taste of it, she loved it. She would go home, Elizabeth would do her homework, Nathan would talk on the phone and bounce a ball around in his room, someone would have a shouting fit with their father, Elizabeth would be scolded for some neighbor's yard she trespassed into or having come back from an innocent sneak away to the words when Hamilton had told her no more. Wendy snickered whenever Elizabeth got in trouble (daily) because it reminded her of the connection they had despite being related.

On the weekends, she would head out with Zeta and Dylan. So far, she had gone to the movies, and the mall, and they went roller skating, and played laser tag. They went to the trampoline park, and she quickly had truly grown fond of them. Zeta, was very well reversed in mythology and often had some new material about a new myth she was learning. She could rattle off several gods, goddesses, and mythical beings, in a way not even serious gamers could rattle off statistics. If shown genuine curiosity, she could share her knowledge, and it was one of the rare times Zeta would ever seen raising her voice. She wasn't particularly shy. She had no probably talking to people she didn't know or speaking up in class, but she was incredibly polite and sensitive, and a part of that was keeping her voice at a low volume. It was strange to learn about her, as she was so different from anyone else Wendy had ever met in her entire life. Sometimes she was a little two kind and it was hard to discern if she could ever stand up for anyone, or get someone to back off from her. That was where Dylan had come in.

He was her protector, and Wendy had learned they were best friends since they were two years old. Dylan, unlike Zeta, had no problem speaking his mind and could be pretty brash about it. While Zeta always tried to see the bright side of things and think of happier things, Dylan remained very much on the side of things being a little bit hopeless and cynical. He was very sarcastic, and not always in a good way. He preferred to stay out of people's business and keep a low profile, while hiding himself away in the dark. Sometimes, it was to the point of brooding. But not with Zeta. There was something in their relationship that made it very clear they had been friends a long time and were incredibly close. If Zeta was ever hurt in anyway, Dylan was the first to be there and guard her. He was constantly boosting her self esteem and praising her when she didn't think herself worthy of it. He complimented her when she performed well on something, and Zeta always saw the good in everyone, but it seemed more pronounced with Dylan. Wendy kept a close eye on them, observing their unusual relationship. It wasn't like anything she had ever experienced. Nothing about it really seemed romantic, it was a little too friendly to be something deeper. It certainly wasn't like what Morgan and Jack had, and it didn't exactly seem like what Jack and Bunny had, or Morgan and Linda. The best she could come up with was something along the lines of her and Elizabeth. More than anything, Zeta and Dylan acted as if they were siblings, and that was strange. Never before had Wendy seen such a close friendship develop, and she decided she wanted something like that. Zeta and Dylan were exactly what she wanted out of life.

"Come on," Dylan offered as he sat up. "It's getting warmer out. The snow's gone. How about we go on the swings for a bit?" he softened his gazer at Zeta as he pulled her up to her feet. The beaten expressions molded into something of intense delight and she clapped lightly while giving a little jump. "Wendy? What do you say?"

"I'd be happy too!" She laughed.

"Have your parents given you an update on what's happening with Mallory?" Zeta wanted to know while Dylan passed over her coat. Wendy shrugged her shoulders.

"Last I know, mom said she felt like she was getting close. I'm sure evidence is hard to find. Something like that would be hidden. And she can't look at night. They're out searching for Pitch. I guess he all but conquered China and now they're tracking him across Indonesia," Wendy explained, pulling on her thin jacket. "Besides, she also has work to do. Didn't you see the dew this morning?"

"Oh dear!" Wendy gasped as Dylan urged them out of his house. He stuck his head back through the door and yelled to his mom they were heading to the park around the corner before joining them. "Dylan, that book report is due on Monday! I completely forgot!"

"It's only Saturday..." he grumbled.

"Yes, but it should have been done by now!"

"It will take you ten minutes to do," he snorted.

"Oh, no, this is bad..."

"I'm sure it's fine!" Wendy said with a little laugh. "Elizabeth has a lot more homework than you do, and never starts on her weekend homework til 7 pm on Sunday!"

"Doesn't that have more to do with her painting and writing on fences, camping out in other people's yards, and disappearing for hours just to read a dumb book?" Dylan said, and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And reposition lawn ornaments into comical stances?"

"Well she... does that..." Wendy agreed. "But she still gets her homework done! She sometimes disrupts class with her challenges of authority and gets into fights, but she's a good student and likes learning. Dad says she's so much like mom. I guess mom had that happen to. She was really aggressive and is a fighter, and she disrupted class, mostly to set the record straight about history."

"Your dad?" Zeta said hopefully, with cheeks flowering in red. "And when can we hope to see him again?"

"Zeta, he's married and Wendy's dad. And he's too old for you."

"He looks like he's only a few years older than me though."

"He's almost 350 actually," Wendy guffawed loudly. "Oh, he gets it a lot. Linda jokes about his looks, and Mallory does too. And then Uncle Brad says stuff, and Tooth's in love with his teeth. And Cupid... actually I don't think he's joking. He's convinced everyone is good looking. I admit, dad does look the same age as Nathan, but ew! Zeta, that's disgusting!" Nervously, the red haired girl looked down and smoothed the fabric on her jeans while she stared at the ground cautiously.

"Not that she's saying you're disgusting," Dylan told her. "She's just reacting with shock, that's all. It's weird hearing that you're in love with your best friend's dad." Wendy let a gentle squeak escape and halted her walk. Noticing she wasn't in step with them, Zeta and Dylan stopped themselves a few feet away from her. They turned back, Dylan wearing a blank expression with a raised eyebrow, while Zeta looked sick from her concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly when she noticed Wendy's pale face and her frozen look.

"Did you just... best friend...?" she questioned in a stammer, voice almost as quiet as Zeta's.

"Well, that's what you are, right?" Zeta wondered, and then brought her voice to something nearly inaudible. "Our... best friend... you are to us."

"Yes I am!" Wendy screamed and snapped her arms around the two of them together. "You're my best friends in the whole world! I wasn't sure, and I am so excited! Thank you for saying that!" Dylan gave a small smirk while Zeta glowed with her enthusiasm. Then, tears lined her eyes and began to seep through Wendy's eyes. Zeta noticed the wetness on her shoulder and flicked her eyes up at her, automatically holding tightly to her.

"Oh no, what did we do?" she panicked.

"Nothing, nothing!" Wendy laughed. "I just... am so happy to finally have friends! I mean I love Licorice and the Guardians but... real human friends who are involved in the world!" Dylan tightened the grip of his one arm, but did not give her a true embrace. Instead, he shoved them to keep moving along, and then gave Zeta his teasing eyes.

"I see what you were doing," he told her in amusement. "Making her your best friend makes it so much easier to see Jack, doesn't it?"

"No, she really is my best friend..." Zeta answered candidly, but there was a gentle hint of laughter lining her lips.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The golden package landed at pointed feet of Pitch's shadow. Morgan had taken off, abandoning the group – something she was doing a little too much lately and realized how much of her daughter's traits she was taking on. She had found the Boogeyman in open field, making his way onto some poor farmhouse with several adults, kids, and farmhands to prey on. He looked bored as he watched her toss the envelope to him, and he rolled his golden eyes when he went to pick it up.

"Aren't you supposed to fire your little water beads at me or give me a shower?" he groaned, undoing the clasp.

"I'm not going to fight you," she snarled. "That's why I didn't bring the others with me." She slammed her hand over the mic in her pocket that was screaming through the earpiece. The other Guardians were protesting she wonder off, but she had ignored their requests. Currently, Jack was demanding she come back, but she switched off his voice. Some days, his voice was a hindrance on her life.

"And what's a measly little envelope going to do?" he hissed while he flipped up flap of the back. He slid the several printed photos out of their sleeve and wrinkled his lip with disgusting confusion. "Morgan, I am a little worried what you're trying to tell me here... are you aware you have given me some... well, these pictures are certainly far from childhood memories..."

"I wanted you to see what the shit you're pulling is doing," Morgan barked. "You may one hell of monster, but I know somewhere there is a trace of good and conscience. I'm the only one who can see it. Which is why I'm here alone. Sometimes my husband just gets in the way."

"Oh, I know that," he smiled.

"These pictures were on Curt Lichter's computer," Morgan explained calmly, eyes stern. "They're of Mallory Lichter."

"His niece?!" Pitch huffed, and Morgan was a little surprised to see a flicker horror in his voice.

"Exactly. Your nightmares are depraving people of hope and positive emotion. Its making them lash out and act on things they never would."

"And you think I caused this?!"

"If you left everyone alone-"

"This is deviant behavior, this is twisted lust!" Pitch screamed at her, tossing the pictures back to her. Morgan quickly gathered them and held them together so as not to damage them. She needed to turn them into the police. "You think this is me?! Try Cupid!"

"He can't control everyone and keep an eye on everyone! He does not have the ability to control people's actions!"

"And you believe that about him, but not me?!" he told her with disbelief.

"You're the one that caused him to go from a good person to a bad person!"

"I can't change someone! I don't have that ability! I only have the ability to take people's fears and use it how I want! It drowns out positive feelings, true. And it's possible he had some sort of fear of being alone or depravity that I awoke, or he had nightmares of his marriage crumbling or being stuck in his marriage the way it was, and that could haunt him and push back his judgment and guilt, but it does not create these kind of feelings. This is a part of his psychological nature, this is him! It is not us, that means it would have to have already been there for this to happen!" Morgan raised an eyebrow and when Pitch saw her doubt, he yelled out loudly.

"I did not make this happen! This was Curt, and Curt alone!" Morgan looked at him doubtfully. "There are things even the Boogeyman would prevent from happening if he could."

"You kissed me," she reminded with repulsion. "Long ago. When I was a child. If that isn't a form of _this_!" She gestured to the now closed envelope. "Then explain to me how that was okay."

"It wasn't forced, you responded," he seethed, with the intimidating waggle of his brows.

"You disgust me," she spat and he chuckled slowly.

"Be that as it may," he told her with a proud bow. "Still understand that the Guardians can do everything they possibly can in the world, and stamp out everything, and there would still be a few people who are so filled with malice and harm, it drowns out all their wonder and light and they cannot pull it out. And nothing you can do can prevent them from acting as they do. Get your facts straight and learn to place blame where it lies, Mrs. Make Believe." In the fizzle of shadow, his figure vanished and Morgan's anguished cry tore through the black sky.

* * *

**My roommate came down today and all timidly was like "Can we watch Rise of the Guardians?" And I was so happy so I did that today!**

**Time to sleep. Class tomorrow! Eerrrgghhh.**

**And once again, come join Guardians Arising! I play Elizabeth Barry, Hiccup, and now Dani Phantom (but not Danny Phantom. Danielle Phantom, his third cousin once removed.)**

**See ya later guys! Rosie out and passing out.**


	23. Creepers

**YAY A CHAPTER HAS BEEN PUT UP!**

* * *

"Daddy, why aren't we at the courthouse?" Wendy asked as she made an effort to take up the entire couch at the Barrys house but extending her whole body over the cushions and placing her feet on Jack's lap, exposing her pink and blue polka dotted stockings she wore.

"I just don't think that's a good place for you to be today," he sighed as he wriggled her toes around so she giggled at the feeling of his icy fingertips prodding at her feet. "Besides, you'd be waiting outside. That's not as fun as sitting at your brother and sister's house, is it?" From down the hall came a crash and then Nathan's shout at Elizabeth to watch where she was going. Jack winced as he taunted her and called her by her despised nickname "Lizzie". Two seconds later there was a loud thud and a slam as Nate was shoved to the floor. From across the hardwood, they both caught site of the girl holding her brother against the wall and barking at him wildly.

"How many times have I told you that name makes me sound like a girl?! You useless, pathetic, piece of-!"

"Hey, hey, hey now!" Jack scolded angrily as he literally flew across the room to where Bess was tugging on the scruff of Nathan's t-shirt. He used his staff to pull the two away from each other, pushing them apart and then standing between them. Wendy attempted to help out as well as she tugged on her sister's arm, who only gave her infamous rolled eyes. "Come on you two, stop it! What just happened?!"

"She kicked that damn soccer ball around of hers and it landed on top of my lamp and broke it!"

"He called my Lizzie!"

"You're not supposed to play with balls in the house!"

"Ha," Elizabeth chuckled darkly. "Doesn't stop you, now does it?!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I've seen your internet history?!"

"_How have you seen that_?!"

"Whoa, okay, okay!" Jack screamed as he pushed the two apart just before they lunged at each other's throats. "Okay, listen, you two, you need to calm down. Elizabeth, how about for once in your life listening to your father and actually doing what he says?!" Bess groaned and gave him the response of a scoff and upturned eyes. Jack glowered at her. "And don't look at me that way, young lady!"

"I am not a lady!"she squawked at him and tried to take a swing. Jack raised an eyebrow, daring her to swipe at him and jiggled his staff with a reminder of his powers. She cowered and drew back.

"Nathan, you know how much your sister hates that name. So why do you call her it?! Every time you do, this is exactly what happens!"

"Hey, she hurt me first!"

"And why do you antagonize your brother?" Jack said. Elizabeth's eyes popped.

"He's a disgusting creature!"

"At least I have a sex drive, Miss If I Let Everyone Know I Think About Sex With Jake They'll Know I'm Just Like Every Other Girl!"

"Whoa! Okay- OKAY!" Jack snarled as he kept his one arm across Nathan and his other arm across Elizabeth so the two would not start mauling each other. Bess was scrambling to get over Jack's arm, but he was far stronger than he appeared to look. "For starters, I really don't want to get into this conversation with either of you. It is not my place. But I really am going to mention this stuff to your father, you know that."

"Uh, no you won't," Elizabeth said. "I mean, you can tell him about Nathan's dirty habit-"

"No, he won't believe you," Nathan told him smugly, but there was a gentle flicker of doubt and terror in his eyes.

"I'm not letting in on anyone's private secret!" Jack interrupted, anger now beginning to flare up in him. "I am not your father, it is not my place to say! I am simply telling them you got into a fight and I had to sort you out. However, I advise both of you to get your crap together. Nathan, maybe you should talk to your father about... things going on with you. And Elizabeth, you need to learn not to be so sensitive with names, obey your father, and not resort to violence every single time someone makes you angry!"

"Ugh," Elizabeth moaned, and then turned to Wendy. "Things would be so much better if I lived with you guys! No school, no homework, and no idiot father who's overprotective!"

"You want to bet on that?" Wendy said.

"Wendy, stop it," Jack warned. "Unlike them I actually _can_ discipline you!" The phone chirped at that instant and all four of them jumped to receive it. Thinking it a game, the grown Licorice leapt at them and jumped into their circle, barking at panting at their enthusiasm. Jack picked up the phone and pressed the button to put it on speaker, holding it out so they could all hear the other end.

"Morgan!" he greeted with a luminescence to his face. "Did the court let out?!"

"Yes," Morgan's voice came through crackly from the other end, but it was clear she had relief and delight in her voice. "And he was convicted."

"Hallelujah!" Nathan said, suddenly forgetting all about his recent argument with his sister. "That took way too long. It should not take seven weeks to convict someone!"

"Yeah, well," Morgan snapped, started to sound a little irritated with the next part of what she was to say. "Linda isn't happy. She thinks he hasn't been convicted long enough. She keeps complaining about how the law is ridiculous and he should be locked away for life so he can never do that again. Unfortunately that's not Pennsylvania law. So he's getting thirty-one years in prison. And, while that's going on, his wife is filing for divorce."

"The court didn't last too long," Jack commented, glancing at the clock.

"Well, once Linda produced the pictures I slipped her, he had a very hard time coming up with something to hide the truth. They were too fuzzy for them to be photo shopped and in some places it was obvious with Mallory. Ryan has disowned him as his brother and he is losing everything and he's going to be sorry he ever did this!"

"How's Mallory?" Wendy wanting to know, legs bubbling with anticipation to know the whole story of what happened at the trial.

"Relieved, but shaken. She's been crying for a long time, but I think she's just glad its over and can finally get it out. Ryan is looking into getting her to see someone though. It's going to be long process to work through and she's... a very broken girl. But maybe we can put this behind us now, and get to the real work in finding Pitch so we can eliminate some of these atrocities in the world."

"When will you be back here?"

"Uh, well I figured, Wendy's probably going to want a couple nights with her friends, isn't she?" Morgan asked and their daughter nodded enthusiastically at that idea. "Well, that's fine. If she wants a sleepover or something, okay. I want to go over to Linda's and tie up a couple of loose ends, then we should probably head home." Wendy's smiled faded at the idea of her long stay in Harrisburg coming to an end.

"Okay, give Linda and Mallory my love. See you soon, Snow Angel."

"Bye, dear." Jack hung up the phone and tossed it to the side table. He glanced up with a twinkle in the blue of his eyes and spied Hamilton leaning against the door frame.

"He's been convicted?" he guessed with hopeful brows raised. Jack beamed and gave his answer through his smile.

"Thirty-one years."

"Asshole needs more," Hamilton huffed, eyes locking onto Elizabeth. No doubt he was imagining how he would feel is the same thing happened to his daughter. "What was all the yelling about earlier?"

"Oh, your kids were having a spat," Jack told him casually. "it's okay, I sorted it." Hamilton glowered at him with intense eyes and bared his teeth a little while he spoke.

"I don't like that Jack," he said to him. "These are my kids, I don't want you disciplining them. You don't have the right."

"I was just trying to keep them from killing each other," Jack explained quickly, but Hamilton was not convinced. He kept his arms crossed and his eyes set on him.

"You are not their father, so don't act like it. You have your own daughter, you can take care of her."

"You know, I could say the same thing about you," Jack offered in retaliation, nostrils flaring with his own impatient aggression. "How many times have you scolded Wendy or told her to keep in line and mind her manners?"

"You left me with her for seven weeks, what was I supposed to do?" Hamilton argued with raised voice. While the two men decided to suddenly hash it all out, Bess slipped out of the guys' ways and hurried back down the hall. Nathan whistled as he escaped into the kitchen, while Wendy was left nervously sitting on the kitchen and looking at the two men, Back and forth she watched him, argue their points and she shifted with the awkward tension in the room hanging over her shoulders. In the center of her gut, she could feel that twist of guilt and the desire to run away pushing on her, but there was also the tug of curiosity that pushed her down into her spot.

"So when they're fighting, I'm supposed to let her tear his face off?" Jack argued with a smirk of sarcasm. "Man you have some weird parenting skills!"

"This is a repeated occurrence and it's more than once! You always have my kids around you and you discipline them into behaving. And they listen to you. And obey you. Because you're fun. And what am I? The useless father who restricts everything they do."

"What did you expect the Guardian of Fun to do? Knit?" Jack asked with insulted laughter.

"You're also a parent and should act like one!"

"You're a real whiner."

"Just stop taking my place as their father, Jack. I'm their father and nobody else!" Hamilton chomped down on his last words and then shifted out of the room. Jack watched him go, making a mental note of how irksome Hamilton was quickly becoming. A small part of him was hoping he would become so irksome that he would feel not too bad about using his Guardian powers on Morgan's former husband.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the most recent weeks, between violence, arguments, and the stress weighing on everyone's mind surrounding Mallory's court case, Bunny had suggested that perhaps they should not keep watch on East Asia and focus a little more on something closer to home for them. On the last night before Jack and Morgan took Wendy and Licorice back up to the North Pole, they were staking out a street cutting right through the heart of Harrisburg. Things were quiet, and there was not a sign of a shadow or a even so much as a cat being startled. Jack was hanging his legs off of a telephone wire, taking perch on the thin strand looping in the sky. While they watching the children of the night, Morgan dusted droplets onto the patches of grass below them, sprinkling from her canteen and the bell of her Hosta in hand. Having still not mastered the balance Jack had, she was perched on top of the actual pole itself. Seeing how lonely she must be with no company, Jack took a gentle walk across the wire towards her, the movements of his hips and the turned look on his face suggestion something of seduction. Morgan unleashed a girlish squeal as he jerked her body from where she sat to pressing her close to him. A bright red came over his face as he talked lowly to her, his cold breath intoxicating her lungs and and weakening her defenses, She relished in the uneasiness she was experiencing due to the effect of of his soft words rubbing against her ears, and let the burning tingle energize her as it coursed through her veins.

"Do you remember the park down there?" he mentioned to her carefully. "The brief interlude we had?"

"Yes, and you nearly had me right then and there," she fondly recalled, laughing at the very memory of it.

"Aw crikey..." came Bunny's voice in their ears. "Not this bloody thing again."

"Relax, Rabbit, we're reminiscing!" Jack snapped into the small mic. "Let us be."

"Just don't let it turn into relivin' old experiences," he warned carefully. "Still clear over here. And borin'." Thin strands of gold began to stretch out in the center of the sky from where Sandy was performing his nightly duties.

"Nothing is here," North told them. "Peace and quiet as always. Why are keeping eye on this town, Bunny?"

"I just think we missed somethin'" he told them through the crackly headsets. "I don't think the sudden tensions everyone has been feelin' all at once 'round here is a coincidence."

"Sometimes people are just horrible people," Morgan said with sharp defense into her mic. "And Pitch has nothing to do with it. Our tension was all centered around what Curt did to Mallory, and he is just a disgusting person who is thankfully now rotting in prison."

"When did ya come to that conclusion?!" Bunny said with surprise. "I don't disagree with you, but yer Linda's best friend, and you suffered manipulation under the hand of Pitch personally, and ya were one of the people most adamant on getting revenge on Pitch, blamin' him for what happened to Mals." While Bunny spoke, Jack changed his expression from a sultry one to something a little more curious and skeptical, eyes searching Morgan for truth.

"I... had a really good talk with someone," she said cryptically.

"Who?" Tooth wanted. Now she was pushing for the answer, and the thickness of the pressure from them all could be felt through the ear pieces. Morgan sensed that even Sandy was channeling his disapproval to them.

"I ran into Pitch in Japan, okay?" Jack gaped at her, mouthing a cuss word at her before stealing away and tracing his path back along the wire. Morgan desperately reached out to him, jumping off the pole and wobbling along the wire. Sensing the movement of the wire meant that Morgan was struggling, he turned back and took her hands to steady her, but kept his eyes cast into something similar to a glare. "I was trying to corner him and defeat him! But he made a good point and I couldn't-"

"Morgan, you cannot let past manipulate you!" North offered through more kindness and concern than disappointment. "We must get Pitch and end this!"

"And I could have done that by myself?" Morgan guffawed. "No, no way! No, I needed-" But the shock of the cold pressure against her shoulder halted her speech and she turned her gaze up to the direction Jack was gesturing to. Her brown eyes followed the trail his finger created and she yelped quietly at the scene. Black figures stretched across the streets and bent over the walls of houses. The yellow house, just kiddy corner to the one direction in front of them, adorned with its dark blue shutters, was being cloaked in the darkness that extended across. Morgan's next words were lost at the sight of so many shadows of the night pouring into a familiar house. Jack had no wasted any time and was already putting together some sort of plan. He held out his hand and Morgan slapped hers into his grip. He jumped off and took his wife with him, the two of them gliding on the currents and leaping across roofs.

"What the bloody hell is it, don't ya stop and suddenly start runnin' on the roofs!" Bunny screamed, hearing the wind breeze past them through the ear pieces.

"I don't know how you were right, Bunny...!" Morgan huffed through heavy breaths as she and Jack charged . "But somehow you were right! We just Pitch and his nightmares take to a house, into a child's bedroom."

"I love hearing people tell me I'm right," Bunnymund nearly cooed to her.

"Okay which house is it?" Tooth asked, readying herself for action.

"The yellow one, on 21st," Morgan barely got out, breathing hard through strain and panic.

"On 21st... Morgan!" Tooth gasped. "Isn't that where...?!"

"Yes!" Jack hissed through his gritted teeth. "That's Zeta Ralston's house. And Wendy is sleeping over there tonight."

* * *

**My roommate watched Rise of the Guardians and LIKED IT! Her favorite part is the running joke with the Yeti always having to repaint everything, and the go suck an egg part. She's been quoting it all day. *is jumping for joy***

**And yes. She is in love with Jack. "Should I feel bad for thinking this animated kid is totally doable?" No, Melissa. No you are not. Please join me in providing support to her that is one hundred percent okay to fall in love with this film and, of course, Jack.**

**So I am going to attempt to do a little homework tonight before I pass out. Normally I put homework first but... I switched it up this time, thinking if I did this first, then I would force myself to do homework since that's something that NEEDS to be done.**

**I am going to go now but I leave you with this: JOIN GUARDIANS ARISING, OUR ARMY NEEDS YOU.**


	24. Bump in the Night

**So its POSSIBLE that instead of doing homework and working on this last night, my roommate, and her friends, and I stayed up til 2 am making a Spice Girls cover music video and we MAY have gone all out and dressed out and I MIGHT have been Baby Spice. Ah, nostalgia.**

**So here. Sorry, but my excuse was I was having fun last night. AND NO REGRETS EITHER.**

* * *

There was something that was itching at Wendy so she felt full of wriggles and restless. She kept telling herself it was because it was the first time she was sleeping over at a friend's house, other than her siblings' place and Linda's. She kept glancing over at the room in its shroud of darkness, dresser full of trinkets with designs of flowers and colored in pastels. Pictures of her family and a collage of Zeta and Dylan through the years lined the walls. There were several plaques with inspirational messages, posters of paintings by famous painters who gave their interpretation of various Greek Myths. Purple flowers fell across the cream colored walls and ran into the frame of the large closet, which Zeta bravely kept open at all times. Her frocks, sweaters, blouses, skirts, and jeans were organized by color, most of which was very muted, pastel, or very calm in its appearance, with the clothes in general just being very innocent or simple in appearance. Wendy had gotten used to Zeta in her church girl imitations, but seeing all her clothes grouped together like that made her gag a little. That kind of dress only made her blend away, which was worse than blending in. Wendy's wardrobe only every consisted of eccentricity, bright color, and wild creations. It tended to be easier to find her in the snow that way.

Everything was as it should be – polite, innocent, and clean, so nothing was out of place. Yet something still felt like it. There was something off about the room and it nagged at Wendy so much it forced her out of the air mattress on the ground. She rose and looked over at Zeta, who was nestled below her fluff of a cerise blanket, a subtle grin on her face as the golden sand took the form of her father's face. Panicking a second, Wendy waved her hand through the sand so it distorted the image. Zeta frowned for a second, but then the sand reformed into something like a sun and flowers. Wendy breathed happily at the sight of that instead of Jack. That was just too weird for her to accept.

Her eyes fell to the blackness surrounding Zeta's bed. It bothered her, and she wasn't sure why. The dark was still but it seemed as if it would latch out at her at any minute. Wendy withdrew her legs and fear grew a pulse in her chest. It thundered and pumped, increasing her sweat and filling her with sudden anxiety and doubt of security. Her fingers drew back and she scuffled away. Zeta's room was not right, and it was stemming from whatever lie under that bed. For a second, Wendy didn't understand, but being the daughter of two Guardians, she caught on very quickly. She understood the presence of fear before it pulled itself upwards and took into the shadow of a man, solidifying and giving her the gentle look of charm and a light grin.

"Wendy!" Pitch greeted with warmth. "I didn't expect to find you here. Aren't you supposed to be at home?"

"I happen to have friends here," she snarled, challenging bravery into her fists. He drifted over to her and made to stroke her hair affectionately, but she threatened him with the chomping of her teeth. Pitch jumped, but chuckled slowly.

"Of course, of course!" he laughed. "My mistake. And you were enjoying a sleepover." He smiled and then held up one finger in the air, circling the tip so it raveled the gold particles. They drifted, like dust in the Sun, and then it darkened, taking on the color of night. Wendy yelped as she watched him transform the sand.

"What are you doing? That's the Dreamsand!" she shouted. "You can't do that, you're going to mess with her dreams!"

"Oh, I'm well aware," he cooed to her, crushing the luminance out of the sand. "I just need to gain a little belief in me, that's all. Just a small dream, nothing that will harm her terribly!"

"No, no, no!" Wendy yelled. "Nothing! Don't do anything!" But the black sand was cringing and rolling into an animal. Zeta moaned from where she was and whimpered. Wendy watched her take the fetal position under her blanket and her heart felt like it was shriveling under her distress. "Stop that! Can't you see you're hurting her?!"

"Oh, she's fine," he waved off. Then there was a loud thump, a near slam. Wendy screamed, the fear building up in her released from the unexpected action. Her eyes flicked up at the images before the window and she leapt, casting a daring glare at the Boogeyman who stood before her. Taking strides much too long for the length of her legs, she leapt over the air and stumbled towards the window, throwing it open to let in her mother and father. Jack attended to Wendy first, taking her up in his arms and inspecting her over to make sure she was unscathed. Morgan, however, flung herself to the mad man in the center of the room, knocking him to the floor.

"You wretched pile of filth!" she snarled at him, while she aimed the Hosta at his hooked nose. He gave her a smirk and then pretended to yawn, while kicking his legs to push her away from him.

"Oh, come on now, Morgsies, we both know you're not going to do anything," he told her with a patronizing tone. She gulped, reading into his word. Images of their last encounters together flashed in her mind and as angry as she had been, when it came down to it, she really hadn't been able to. The truth of his words hurt more than his being so nonchalant about it and she drove the flower into his neck as if it were a dagger. "You're holding a flower to my neck. Think about how threatening that actually looks."

"It's a flower that lasts through the harshness of snow," she barked, turning her fist so her nail was cutting into his skin now. "I trust it quite a bit."

"Dad, stop fretting, I'm fine," Wendy moaned at Jack lifted her arms again and inspected her bare arms.

"What's with all the noise...?" Zeta asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the dark man, shrouded in shadow, pinned to the floor by a young woman holding him hostage with a flower. "Are you... Morgan of Make-Believe...? And is that... the Boogeyman?" Blinking a few times with wonder that it was still a dream, she turned to see Jack, sitting on her desk and practically restraining Wendy and lifting her chin to keep checking her over.

"Dad!" she moaned, and then Zeta squeaked, pulling the edge of her blanket over her face. Wendy turned and saw her friend hiding so she became a blanket mountain. "Good job, look at what you did!"

"What did I do?!"

"She's been embarrassed into shock."

"... what...?" Jack wondered with confusion. Another squeak was released from the blanket.

"What were you doing to my daughter?!" Morgan demanded, shaking his shoulders violently. "I may have let you go the last few times, but if you've put so much as a finger-"

"I didn't even know she was here!" Pitch snapped at her, eyes glowering with irritation. "In case you haven't noticed, your daughter is very well trained at keeping her fear under control and I can't track her that well!"

"What were you doing with Zeta, then?" Morgan continued to question, this time fist raised high above his head with threat. His eyes were looking at the fist with a bit of worry, the veins in his neck protruded from tight swallowing.

"Why is this family blaming me for everything lately?" Pitch muttered to himself.

"Take a look at the world, Pitch," Jack remarked, pushing Wendy aside and jumping off the edge of the desk. He held his hand out, urging Wendy to remain behind him. He gripped his staff and waved it around in front of Pitch. "In case you were unsure, we're not too fond of what you've done with the place!"

"If you're talking about Mallory again-"

"I'm talking about everyone! The last ten years, things are four times worse than they ever were! Statistics of abuse, rape, neglect, suicides, murder, crimes have shot through the roof! I have doubt that's in large part because of you! And you continue to do it! That's pretty sick. That's genocide!"

"Do you have any idea what a thrill it is to go into a room, have a child turn and see you? How nice it is that they are too scared to even shut the closet door because they know they'll see you? Everyone can see me, Jack. And I can come out during all hours of the day now! This incredible fear and hopelessness has made it possible for me to appear, because their souls now cast shadows! It's great, I love it!"

"You get off on fear," Morgan spat, making sure her saliva landed right in his face. "You are one disgusting son of a bitch."

"Oh, Morgan..." he whispered tenderly, reaching his slender grey hand to stroke her face. Morgan shuddered at his touch. Her eyes drifted to where his hand now rested against his cheek and her lip quivered with desire to chomp off his entire hand. "You know it didn't have to be this way. This all could have been avoided. Long ago, if you had united-"

"That wouldn't have worked and you know it!"

"What's he talking about?" Wendy whispered to Jack, who was clinging onto the edge of his sweatshirt. He waved her comment away and kept his staff at a safe distance, drawing in breath as he watched Morgan look in distaste at Pitch's motion.

"But we could have been partners, and you and Jack-"

"Go back in your hiding place!" Morgan interrupted, finally swinging her fist so it pushed him back under the emptiness below Zeta's bed. Feeling the thumps rolling around under her bed, Zeta now jumped and ran out from the covers. Jack reacted to her, as a father and Guardian. He stole her away from the direction she was running and tightened his one arm around her, obtaining a firm grip. Zeta's face was the color of strawberries, and somehow smiled through the terror she was experiencing. Pitch's shadow flattened and then dissipated til all that remained was the natural shadows of the absence of light. Morgan turned her attention up and blushed timidly at the look of approval her husband gave her. Then her eyes fell on Zeta, who looked fairly calm, but her face was white except for the rose on her cheeks. She approached her, getting her level and looking into her smokey irises.

"Zeta," she started. Zeta nervously looked down, as if she were starstruck and couldn't bring her eyes up to Morgan's. "Zeta, did you have a nightmare?" She nodded. "What was it of?"

"Someone destroyed a nest. They stepped on it. All the eggs were crushed," Zeta whispered, wringing her hands against Jack's arm. He grimaced, but remained quiet. Morgan cocked her head, mind blurry with confusion as to how something like that, though bad, would be a nightmare enough to warrant a whimper and a yelp.

"It was just a bad dream," Morgan told her. "It didn't happen. It's not real, okay?"

"But your mind is powerful," Zeta told her quietly. "Your mind can create truth. That's what you do. You inspire people to come up with things and act on them. You help them to imagine and make-believe."

"But Pitch's manipulates your mind into seeing those things, and so you think its real. But only you have control to make things real. He manipulates, but he doesn't have complete control. It didn't happen."

"Yes it did. I saw it happen when I was six." Morgan's face dropped off its color and her brow wrinkled with concern. "I don't want you to worry about it. It wasn't your dream and I'm sure it will be okay. Um... why didn't you kill him?"

"Fear is always present and you can never get rid of it," Morgan told her darkly. "If we killed him, it would upset the balance of everything. However, that doesn't mean we can let him roam wildly through the world. We need to tame him, get his reign of fear in control!"

"And how do you do that?" Zeta said. This time, Jack was taking the answer. He let Zeta go and turned to face her, looking at her with a gentle smirk.

"By you recognizing the dreams aren't real and aren't happening. Once you know that, you don't fear the Boogeyman. If you don't fear the Boogeyman, he can't get into your mind," Jack informed her. Zeta's smile broadened and Wendy moaned in annoyance at the color flourishing in her friend's cheeks. "Really, Zeta, the power is in you."

"But, the things you said..."

"You need to help the adults, because he's affecting them. He's making them loose sleep over them and stressing them out. They become more emotional. It's important that you remind them they're just bad dreams and they can't be hurt." Zeta curled her lips in, holding back the scream she was most likely forming when he looked at her so gentle the way he did.

"Okay," Zeta agreed, voice a little wavered from every emotion that was taking over her in that moment.

"We'll come back for you in the morning, Wends," Jack said as he rose again and took his staff. Morgan walked to the window and opened it wide, preparing to take off. Wendy nodded, but it was one of reluctance. She was not ready for her time with her friends to be over yet.

"He can't come back, right?" Zeta expressed to them as they sat perched on the windowsill together.

"As long as you refuse to let him feed you lies," Morgan instructed, a little bit of pain hidden in her comment. But Zeta didn't notice it and just flashed them both her wide smile. Jack smiled at them both and then winked at Zeta who suddenly swayed from the weak feeling that was melting her knees. Wendy glared at her friend, but smiled through her frustration.

Saying goodbye, and closing the window again, Zeta sighed happily, remembering to once again tell Wendy about how wonderful her dad was. While the two shuffled back into their beds, Zeta's ramblings turned into whispers and yawns before they ended altogether. Wendy, however, still couldn't get rid of that itch. It was different now though. The annoyance was something more in her core rather than different about the room. It pushed on her organs and she struggled to find a positive thought to really focus on. When she closed her eyes, she kept seeing pictures of things that worried her; the situation with Mallory, something else happening with Linda's family, her parents arguing, the North Pole being attacked, Licorice dying. Her siblings getting involved in something tragic. Losing her friends. Everything that ever mattered in her life suddenly falling apart. Her mind raced through every one of these thoughts and her heart's race intensified while fear settled in.

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**Okay guys, try to get another one up tomorrow, but dunno if that will happen. I work late tomorrow and then in the morn on Saturday. Gross.**

**So... who's joined Guardians Arising? Please come. We love you. And we snuggle and cuddle. Lots.**

**Rosie out!**


	25. Calm of the Storm

**So I like this chapter, but I don't like the ending. Honestly, I really hate the stuff I shell out when I'm exhausted. But yet I always seem to be tired lately so if I don't write when I'm tired it will never get up. URGH.**

**So news of today: So it's my birthday today and my roommate is awesome (They're all awesome but this is about the one roommate). I woke up this morning and there was a sheet of paper with a giant picture of Jack Frost on it and it said. "What's up sexy? I heard it was someone's birthday today. How about a little nip?" And then her personal message on the bottom. It was one of the best things to wake up to.**

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Several weeks went by and summer snuck up on everyone. It was the season Morgan was most active, heading out in the early mornings to sprinkle areas of the world with dew and sometimes bring on the morning mist. There were days when she was out longer and would thicken the air with moisture. As much as people complained about the humidity, she had learned it was not safe to deprive the whole world of its humidity. That was only necessary for arid areas, but where there was heavy foliage, she needed make sure things did not dry out. So when the sun peeked, she was out, spreading droplets in the air and thinning it. Her favorite part of the whole job though was when kids awoke and saw the dew and realized the grass was wet, even though the dirt and trees were dry. There was a legend going around about them being the water diamonds Morgan of Make-Believe left behind, and that was how you knew she had been to visit. She rather liked that story, especially the part about it being true.

At night, however, she and Jack were out again, fired up as ever. They focused more on the children this time, rather than Pitch himself. North would be out trying to rekindle wonder in the eyes of those in danger of no longer believing, and those in genuine misery. Jack tried to invigorate fun, as much as he could without causing too much damage with ice and snow. Sandy was fighting back the nightmare that took over the minds of adults and kids alike, but struggled with it for reasons he didn't understand. Bunny pursued the adults, trying to leave tracks of hope in their households. Tooth worked in her palace, pressing fingers to the memory boxes to bring forth the greatest memories anyone ever had. Morgan awakened the imagination in everyone so they could pursue their fun and their wonder. And they were beginning to see the results. Crime seemed to be dropping a little and it became more common to see parents outside with their kids on playgrounds, greeted them with smiling faces, parents began to fight less and physical and emotional wounds were disappearing from everyone. Feeling lifted with hope, they continued this pattern, rigorously working to bring everyone back.

"It's okay," Morgan said just as she watched a young boy look at the mess of sand where his castle used to be. It was just after supper, and some parents had brought their kids out to the playgrounds to enjoy as much of the summer sunlight as possible. She laughed and crouched before the kid, who gasped and looked straight at her. Morgan blushed, still not used to being seen as often as she seemed to be the last year. Her grin got wider. "Forget about that. You know what you have here?"

"What?" asked the little boy, rubbing his face and leaving streaks of white sand on his cheek. Morgan grinned at the endearing look.

"We have a siege," she explained, shifting the sand over. "Castles are real you know. They don't just exist in stories."

"Really?" he gasped and then his mouth dropped to gape at her. She laughed at nodded at his comical expression.

"There's not a lot here, unfortunately. Unless you count White Castle," she joked. "Big castles are in many other countries though. Many of them are too destroyed to live in now, but some people still live in some of them. Long ago though, all of them were lived in. And they were really tough, meant to face attacks and battles."

"Mine didn't..." the boy pouted and then looked sadly at the mess before him again.

"But you know what, that's okay too. Sometimes castles were sieged and conquered and taken over by the enemy. And other times, they could get destroyed. Then do you know what happened?"

"What?"

"They built another one. And you know what? You're the King. That not only means you lead your people, but you also lead your army. So you can build another one and instruct your people to help you. And you can make it stronger!" As she grew enthusiastic with her inspiration, she let a drop of water fall from the bell of her Hosta and it fell on top of his head. He nodded and cheeks glowed red with energy. He began scooping the sand again and pushing it together, using his shovel and bucket to put it together. "Wow, Morgan Make-Believe! You're right!" He laughed. He stood up and then bowed lowly to her. "Thank you, fair lady!"

"The pleasure is all mine, good sir!" she told him with her low bow. "Don't forget, you're the King."

"Of what?"

"Your own imagination," she said. "Some people may tell you things don't exists or certain things aren't real, or some people may manipulate it. Especially your dreams. But you are in charge of it, okay? You control it. And if you can imagine it, you can do it. Your imagination can make things real, but you are also in control of it. Remember that and nobody can hurt you with it. No monster under the bed or in the closet."

"I didn't really understand that..." he admitted shyly. "But thanks!" He turned back and hummed to himself as he formed his castle again. Confident he was okay for now, Morgan skipped back over to Jack, who was leaning against a bench and waiting for her, by peering over the shoulder of some mother and reading her book. She flipped the page and Jack scowled.

"I wasn't done you know," he remarked, not expecting an answer. Her ears twitched but other than she showed no display of noticing him. "Yeah, yeah I know."

"All right, where next?" Morgan asked, waiting eagerly to get going.

"You're glowing brighter than the elves when they electrocute themselves," Jack commented, seeing the bubbly expression on her face.

"It's just... nice being seen."

"Nice?" Jack laughed, throwing his head back in laughter and then propping himself up with his staff. "Nice doesn't even cover it. Not after 300 years of not being seen."

"Oh, stop it," she giggled as they walked down the path together and walked the kids run past. He snuck his frost covered hand inside her arm and then it fit into her fingers, interlacing with them while they walked. "You always use the pity line."

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth," he chuckled, burying his cold nose in her hair to get a waft of her scent. "Isn't that what you're all about?"

"I don't use truth to get attention."

"No, instead you force people to pay attention to you as you go on about the latest issue of Time magazine and what they found."

"That is some very good literature," Morgan defended. She looked back at the kids on the playground, delighted to hear more screams and cries of delight rather than someone pushing someone else or some kid getting a skinned knee or there not being a swing available. Her heart had felt so much lighter in the last few weeks and she was afraid to admit it. If she gave in to the relief, she would drop her defenses and that might be when everything got destroyed. In hurricanes, in the center of destruction was calmness. Jack, however, could tell exactly what she was thinking. After being around her so long, the twitch of her lip and the perplexed wrinkle around her eye gave so much away, but he had also been thinking it too.

"I know," he told her quietly, swinging his arm around her shoulders. "You're wondering how long it will last."

"There's still a lot of damage in the world we need to work through," she said to him frowning in thought. "And I don't think it's just going to vanish like that."

"You thinking about Mallory again?" She seemed more relaxed those days, but her faith in men had been shattered completely. Mallory had never had a boyfriend ever, and in part it was due to her fearful of her uncle and what he would say if she did, but Linda and Morgan were in constant contact. Out in public, Morgan would flinch if a man so much as brushed by her. If a man held a door open for her, she would be hesitant to go through it. Compliments were not well received and even talking to someone was hard for her. It was strange, she had always seemed so peppy. When the Guardians were around, that was when she was most herself. She trusted them far more than anyone besides her parents and they reminded of happier times, as kids. And the perverted sense of humor she had was a front, to hide her own embarrassment and blame with everything that went down with Curt. Now, she was trying to find herself again, and herself had become something withdrawn and hiding from everything. Especially since news and her regular therapy visits leaked from nobody knows where at school.

Linda had told them it was very split. Some people were sympathetically and constantly bringing it up, asking her every day if she was okay and if there was anything they could do, and offering to help her with anything and everything and being friends with her out of pity, while Mallory just wanted people to treat her like a person who just had a bad thing happen to her, rather than a walking tragedy. Others, however, misconstrued the story and thought she willingly went along with it. Words like "whore" and "slut" and "easy" were thrown all over the school and she tried to ignore it. More than ever she poured herself into her work, until the school curriculum required the reading of _Lolita_. She struggled to get past the chapters and then came the actual lust and seduction of the little girl. Lying on the floor in a huddle heap. She ripped the book in two and said she wanted to go away to somewhere where there were no teenagers, no one to remind her of what happened, no school, and no guys to make her feel uncomfortable. The beginning of that week, when Wendy returned from her week long stay with her brother and sister and hung out with her friends all the time, she had begun to stay at the Taj Mahal house and was busying her time by watching films, reading books, cooking, and playing games with Wendy.

"That girl... You just never think... you never expect..." Morgan stammered and then Jack kissed the top of her head.

"I know love," he told her gently and then took her hand. "How about we take an early night? See how our beauties are doing?" Morgan smiled and decided one night without their normal amount influence would not make much difference. She let Jack take her in his arms, just like they did when they were younger, and he shot up into the air, jumping along the currents. Three kids on the ground gazed and pointing at them flying. Morgan waved at them and her Hosta plant dropped three little beads of moisture onto the ground for them.

They entered the house and found the TV on, a classic 80s film on the TV playing. Mallory was watching it, her face blank and white as her eyes remained fixated on the images passing across the screen. Her legs were pulled up tight to her chest. Wendy was on the other end of the couch, passed out on Licorice's body who looked perfectly content to have the girl nuzzled against her. Jack stepped into the kitchen and wrinkled his nose. A tart, strong smell was lingering, and it tickled his nose sharply.

"Is... something burning?" he asked.

"Burned," Mallory sighed. "I tried to cook for you guys and I burned it. Black."

"That's okay," Morgan said sitting in the middle of the couch. "We'll cook." Mallory just presented a long, withdrawn sigh of annoyance.

"Yeah, I know..." she grumbled and turned her head to face the TV. "All of these 80s films are the same. There's always a teenage outcast working against the odds, is strong, is at their worst, and then something happens to give them love and a happy ever after. It's stupid." Aggressively she picked up the remote and switched off the TV. "Did you guys make any progress? Can I live a life without misery right now?"

"That's not really how it works..." Jack started carefully, treading to make sure he didn't say something insensitive.

"No, of course not," she with pain dragging her voice down. She rose from the couch and stretched her arms before stoically moving over to them. "I think I'm just going to sleep..."

"But... you slept til noon today," Jack told her. "And it's ten o'clock. It's... summer and you're... eighteen..."

"And I should be out on dates and getting into trouble and doing drugs and getting drunk and partying and having fun," Mallory snapped at him.

"No, no, I didn't say that..." Jack quickly was sure to confirm.

"I never want to have trouble in my life again. Especially anything that end up with me like this ever again..." Jack looked at her in concerned and dropped his shoulders.

"All right, then. Good night," he told her affectionately. She learned forward, lazily pressing her head into his shoulders for a hug. He kissed her head and then she turned to Morgan, who bound her in a gripping embrace.

"Mallory... we love you," she whispered to her. "And you are wonderful and perfect and nothing anyone says is ever going to change that."

"I know..." she whispered to her, voice cracking with emotion as she spoke.

"I'm sure Sandy will be over in this direction soon." She just nodded and then turned back, heading down the hall.

"Sweet dreams, Snow White," Jack told her playfully. And for a brief second, he caught a glimpse of the old Mallory, the slight raise of her eyebrow and her lips turned to amused irritation. He shrugged his shoulders and she kept on walking. Morgan leaned her chin on Jack's shoulder and watched the dark haired girl vanish into the guest bedroom.

"This is scary..." Morgan breathed.

"I know... but she'll be all right," Jack assured, touching her her hand. Morgan, however, did not appear so convinced.

"Oh?"

"It's a traumatic experience. It's going to take time," he stated.

"I know that but... she's... her mother's daughter."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pitch's reign on the earth has given way so even the girl who is so well trained in not letting fear in, and has a Guardian godmother has succumbed to fear and is left feeling hopeless."

"Fear is also a natural human emotion," Jack reminded her. "And not everything horrible that happens is the doing Pitch. Some people are just sick and things just happened." A spark of shock exploded in Morgan as she listed to his remark.

"Are you saying this just happened with her? As if she just knocked a vase over?!"

"No, no, not at all that's not what I meant! I mean he could have some mental illness, or he could just not have something right about him... No, I didn't mean that at all."

"Okay, but... do you not see the similarities?" Morgan asked, looking at the guest bedroom door.

"What similarities?" Her eyes glossed over and she tore her gaze away from the hall and down to the floor.

"It's the calm of the storm, Jack. The biggest most destructive whirlwinds in nature have periods in the middle of them when everything settles down for a period of time. But even then, you can tell something is happening."

"Would you stop talking about the weather?" he demanded with agitation. "What similarities?"

"I'm talking about, Jack," she snarled. "About Linda's past, and how much her attitudes are reminding me of her. I'm afraid of what could happen, and afraid that the similarities will keep going, and like Linda did, could go so far as to try and take her own life."

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**So now I need to head off for class. Once again, as much as I hate it, because I love to write every day, I will probably not have one up for a few days. ARGH I hate how tired I am all the time. Stupid school.**

**So come to Guardians Arising guys - I am Dani Phantom, Hiccup, Elizabeth Barry, and now Jareth the Goblin King, who is still in processing.**

**... also I gave in and now I am watching loads of Supernatural.**

**Have a good day!**


	26. Deeper than Fear

**So this is more of a cute chapter :3 But it's fun.**

**So guys. The greatest thing EVER happened today. Some of you may or may not know how much i LOVE Phantom of the Opera. For our dissertation, my professor is wanting us to have a unit were we each teach a topic (there's only like five people in the class) in literature and it can be anything we want. So I get to teach Phantom of the Opera and the whole class is going to read it and everything! This is so exciting for me!**

**Onwards with story**

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The letters and numbers before her jumbled and danced together and Wendy huffed at the mess before her. She looked up at Jack, who was holding the book as a reference and waiting for her to come to some sort of conclusion.

"... Two?" she decided. Jack flashed her a grin, pleased at her for trying but slowly shook his head.

"It's actually five, did you remember to bring this other number over?" He asked, tapping the piece of paper before her. She slumped in her chair and blew strand of her dark hair away from her face.

"Oh," she said, closing her book. "Well this is dumb."

"Your mother wants you to do it." Wendy shrugged, deciding she didn't care how her mother viewed her schooling. Math was getting the point where she was struggling to understand it. She simply sighed and threw her pencil down. Another problem she got wrong. She frowned and stared at it. For the past few days she felt everything she was doing was wrong. Nothing about her was all that special and even though she had a high intelligence in academia, she still felt stupid. Every night, she would chat with her friends for half an hour, and she was learning faster and faster how much of the world she was missing. Every day there was a new thing they would mention. Zeta would say "Oh, you haven't heard of that? Well that's okay..." or Dylan would say "Seriously how do you not know about that?" And every time she got this sinking guilt and sudden wash of shame, even though she had no reason to feel it. She felt useless lately, and it was hard to clear away the emptiness taking over in her.

The shower down the hall stopped and they heard movement around in the bathroom. Mallory was still with them, going through the motions every single day and with no desire to go back to her house any time soon. Jack raised an eyebrow, waiting for Wendy to move on.

"Can we stop?" she pleaded. "This is too much math."

"Snowdrop, we still have two hours of school-"

"I don't feel well..." she said and pushed herself out from the kitchen table before he could answer.

"Uh, well... uh, okay," Jack gave in, finding nothing else he could say in the situation. He closed his book and then began to sort through her papers on the table as she scampered back towards her room, Licorice trailing behind her. "Remember though, your mom said-"

"Forty pages of _The Giver_ I know!" Wendy called back before her door shut in its slam. Jack winced at the sound. He groaned, not understanding where her sudden defiance came from. As every parent and child, they had their arguments, but his relationship with his daughter had been very good, better than how Wendy and Morgan were, and their relationship wasn't actually too terrible. Yet, for the past week, she had been down. She lost a lot of enjoyment in things and she didn't laugh nearly as much, didn't hold much confidence in herself anymore and half the stuff she said didn't sound as nearly positive as some things she had said before. It confused him and worried him. Jack felt the aching tug in his heart a father feels when his child was distressed. But he figured it had to do with the pain she was feeling for Mallory, who was like a cousin to her. The whole ordeal had been hard on all of them and trying to go back to normal was just not coming as easily as they hoped. He dropped his shoulders and quickly pushed all her study material into the green messenger bag that often rarely left the kitchen. From the hall, the door to the bathroom opened and Mallory stepped out, brushing the black mess on her head that had recently just been attacked with a hair dryer. She forced a smile at him, evening out the dark strands.

"Hey," he greeted. "You just woke up?" Mallory pursed her lips and nodded to his question. "It's noon."

"Telling time was first grade," she remarked snarlingly.

"I just mean... did you want breakfast or lunch?"

"I'm not hungry..." she mumbled at turned away. Jack narrowed his eyes. He was getting really tired of that response from her. He quickly took to walking around the table and grabbed her by the elbow. The sudden touch caused her to draw back and take in a sharp breath. Jack pulled his fingers back quickly. It wasn't the touch of ice that had startled her so much, she was used to that. Mallory had developed an intense fear of unexpected touch it seemed, and she would react to anything from anyone, but especially men. There were very few men she would let touch her, even to shake her hand, anymore and Jack was one of them. Even so, her back was turned and she was not expecting it. So she squealed and Jack's reaction was to let her be.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he quickly whispered an then slowly moved forwards so she could judge his movements. She let him approached and he pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her head. "Listen, Mals... I know this... this whole thing makes you feel sick half the time but... well, have you weighed yourself lately?" He took a step back and the teenager looked incredibly frail, and her pants were starting to hang in a sag around her middle. Jack noted how much her belt seemed to tighten up and how her usually skin tight shirt – that Jack would never in a million years have let her wear but Linda was very much into letting the kids wear what they want so long as it wasn't hateful or getting them arrested – now hung loosely. And her waist was beginning to look too small to be healthy. Mallory swung her head, to indicate her answer of no.

"I don't have an eating disorder," she said. "I am losing weight, but you know. Stress."

"But you're still not eating as much as you should be," he pointed out.

"Jack, you're not my father you know..." she moaned walking past him and collapsing on the sofa.

"No, but you're my responsibility right now," he lectured and she rolled her eyes. "Your mother allowed you to spend your recovery time up here, and that means making sure you're healthy and safe in every way possible."

"Well that's going to be a while, isn't it?" Mallory snapped, twirling the remote in her hands. "Haven't you seen my Facebook?"

"Guardians don't really use Facebook. We're not supposed to exist, remember?"

"But you don't at least check up on Elizabeth or Nathan to see what's going on?" Jack shrugged. "They hate me Jack. They hate me. I lost 100 friends in a week on Facebook. People are going around and saying I'm a..." Her words ran out til she could say no more on what they were calling her. "You probably have an idea. And of course, some people are defending me and saying that what they should be doing is giving me as much help as possible. That's not what I want! I don't want to be treated like a tragedy... Some people are discovering I'm gone now and... you know how Dad thinks I've gone to therapy camp. Well that;s what some people are saying."

"That's what we wanted-"

"But high school, Jack." she interrupted, scowling at him with determination. "They turn things, come up with other things. And of course, the worse it is, the faster it spreads." Breathing deeply, she fell sideways, so she was resting on her side and staring at the blank TV. Jack carefully moved closer to the couch, standing in front of the arm, and looked down at her curiously, wonder in his azul eyes about what they could be saying. Mallory looked back up at him and readied herself with a quiet release of breath. She sat up and moved so he could sit beside her. Jack slowly reached over and clutched her fingers while she began to shake with nervousness. She settled under his touch, but her face was still of pallor. For the first time in many days, he saw darkness surrounding her eyes. Never before had he really looked at her until now, and she looked a complete mess. Skinny, tired, and of a very unhealthy color. It was a teenager think to sleep until noon, or later, but Mallory never liked to sleep past eight in the morning. And she was incredibly active and into doing girly things all the time. Now she was just sitting on the couch and watching TV or reading books.

"They're saying I went away because I was pregnant or contracted a disease or something. The people who are against me or throwing around nasty words about how I'm disgusting and I get off on family and old men and I just... I can't even say some of the stuff they've said. It's too... too horrible even for a teenager to say..." And as the words escaped her, emotion took over and her cries began to leak through. "Jack I... I don't know how I can... I can't ever.. date anyone."

"That's not true," he whispered.

"No, I mean it! Not even you can touch me without me flinching, and beside my dad and my brothers, I trust you more than any other guy in the entire world!"

"Certainly not North..."

"Yes, Jack, that's how messed up I am! I trust you more than Santa Claus!" she screamed, her arms waving around. "I'm afraid to go on dates, because what if he tried to do something?! Especially now when everyone thinks I'm a whore! If I can't even make myself go on a date, how am I ever supposed to kiss someone? Or have sex!"

"Whoa, yeah, let's not go there, how about?" he chuckled. "You're a bit young to be having sex."

"Oh seriously Jack, maybe you had to wait hundreds of years before you could do it but seriously can't expect me to believe you and Morgan waited until marriage."

"Ah, well... no," he confessed. "No we did not. That was... one tradition in history she was... very happy to not recognize. But your mother did."

"... Nuh uh."

"Yep. Your mother and father waited until they were married."

"Wow how did they – never mind, I don't want to talk about that! I just..." Her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself down a little. "You have nothing to worry about Jack... obviously I'm not going to be able to do it for quite some time but... still I'm... I don't want to be afraid anymore. And this doesn't seem like something you can just fight off. This is a fear beyond Pitch Black."

"Did your results for PTSD come back in yet?" Jack wondered with concern.

"No, none of the psychological stuff has come in yet," she groaned. "Only the infections and pregnancy tests. I don't even know why I had to submit to that one, I've never had a period that was late or anything." Jack tensed and looked at the ceiling.

"You know if you don't eat enough and lose too much weight you don't get your period," he told her calmly. "And then you can't have kids." Mallory's eyes popped at the fact.

"Sometimes the stuff you know about girls is creepy."

"I've been around, I watch all the kids of the earth, I live with two girls, your mother is one of my best friends, she's blunt about everything... you kind of get used to it." Mallory kicked up her legs and leaned forward to use Jack as a pillow. "You know, Snow White-"

"You're pushing it."

"Somehow you never stop me though," he chuckled, shuffling her hair. "This isn't a one time deal. You don't have to think that once you go back you can't come up here and hide out again. We're always going to be here for you, and Wendy enjoys you."

"Wendy's pretty moody lately, have you noticed?" Mallory mentioned to him.

"Well, she's worried about you," Jack offered.

"Hmmm... why does everyone worry about me so much?"

"If I have to answer that I throw a snowball at you," he taunted, swiping the remote from out under her. "What do you want to watch? Oh hey look at that we could watch a chick flick!"

"Ugh, really?" Mallory gagged, and Jack looked at her in surprise.

"Isn't that your time of film?"

"No, I like things with cinematic value!" she said with insulted disgust. From the shadows of the hall, there bobbed the dark haired body of the girl, rising from her bedroom and looking over to them expectantly. Licorice's tail moved like a pendulum as he waltzed behind her.

"Can we join you?" Wendy wondered and Jack moved to allow room for her to sit. The girls sat on either side of Jack he threw he arms around the both of them. Flipping through a few channels, they settled on _Groundhog_ _Day_, which for reasons unknown, had just been playing on the screen. Jack pulled both of them closer and kissed both of them on their heads and then smirked proudly.

"I must be the luckiest man alive," he joked. "I got two beautiful ladies under both my arms and they are perfect in every way possible."

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**Shoutout to my friend Rose101XD. She's just amazing. And she has a story you should check out. No special reason for her being amazing, she just is.**

**So come to Guardians Arising guys - I am Dani Phantom, Hiccup, Elizabeth Barry, and now Jareth the Goblin King, who is still in processing.**

**See you when I can! Ni-ni time.**


	27. Open Up the Dark

**There's some... really bad stuff going on in my family guys. Like seriously bad. Like "oh my god somebody in my family could be in prison for many years" bad. And I think he deserves it one hundred percent but the people around the situation don't deserve the pain and uugggghhh. So I'm struggling with things.**

**So yeah I spent two days working on this chapter because it was... rough. With everything going on. **

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Wendy's eyes snapped open at the shadows that swept across her room. She breathed quickly, attempting to force down her anxiety that was beginning to build up. It was a common practice for her. As she grew up, her parents worked and searched for methods they could use to help the kids, especially their own, combat their fears. Many of these methods they had learned through Sophie and her advice as a psychologist. Wendy slowed her breaths, trying to calm herself down. Her fears were struggling to fade and she realized it was oddly harder to get her breathing to slow, and the thickness in her throat was not disappearing. The shadows moved again and she squeaked loudly.

"Wendy, shh, it's me, it's okay," came thee soft whisper in the darkness. Calm weighed on the young girl as she recognized Mallory's voice and every tense feeling and shake deadened.

"I thought... maybe you were..." Wendy panted while her eyes adjusted to the darkness around the room and she could make out the narrow face and slender figure of her almost-cousin.

"You thought I was Pitch?" Mallory giggled lightly. "Give me some credit, Wends, I'm much better looking than that. Both of your parents are Guardians and yet you're afraid the Boogeyman was in your bedroom.

"I can still get scared..." Wendy muttered while her face was overtaken by shades of red. In the darkness though, Mallory could not see the change on her face and her emotion was lost on her.

"I know, I'm teasing..." Mallory assured. Wendy shifted in her bed to gaze at the angry red numbers from the solar clock across the room.

"It's one in the morning," she whispered, as if the sudden notice of how late it was made her feel she needed to keep quiet. "What do you want?"

"I can't sleep," Mallory confessed in a whispered. "I'm afraid to..." Wendy stiffened and her covers shifted with her movement. If Mallory was having nightmares that did not give good news and that meant so much was happening right now. Things they never thought would happen. And her parents were out there looking for Pitch.

"You mean nightmares," she concluded sensibly.

"No," Mallory corrected, leaving Wendy looking confounded as to what else she could mean. "Good dreams. Dreams so good they are everything I ever wanted. Things that used to be but never can. A life that won't happen."

"Such as?"

"Becoming some sort of motivational speaker, helping people. Having the family my mom did, with a husband who loves me dearly and rambunctious kids. Being successful and famous for my help with people all around the world."

"And that can't happen?"

"Not with the route I'm on," Mallory almost laughed. "And it's more than that. I keep dreaming I 'm eleven again. I'm a good student and I'm going through high school, getting the best marks in class, doing well. I'm surrounded by friends and I have the life of every typical teenager. I go on dates, get home too late and dad yells at me. I break up with him, I get another boyfriends a few months later, we go to prom. We go to college together, he proposes... that life that so many of my classmates hate. And it never can happen, because it didn't. It was all I wanted but I wasn't allowed to have boyfriends. And then I dream about my memories, visits up here, snowball fights, your father reading stories to us when we were young. A life I will never have again and haven't had since I was 12 because I spent so much of my time crying and in misery and never was happy. Then I dream about that time Jack snuck us all out and took us night sledding on the big cliff. And we got back and Morgan was so angry with him but we didn't regret it. That is my favorite memory, but there will never be times like that again. Ever."

"But... why can't there be...?"

"Wendy..." Wendy slipped onto the bed beside her and reached out to her as if she were an older sister comforting her. "You're young, and probably don't really understand. I don't know _how_ to be happy anymore. I'm consumed by memories, and every moment I'm thinking of him,. Everything holds a reminder of him. My identity has become the little girl who was raped bu her uncle. How can those days come back? I'm so filled with fear. I keep thinking about my future and things that could happen. What if he gets out of jail, would he come after me? Or boys! How can I be expected to date! Half of them think I'm a whore, the other half pity me, and I don't feel comfortable around men! Either some of them would think I'm easy or never truly care about me or I would withdraw at every touch! What if I can never date? What if I never stop being afraid of sex!" Mallory's voice increased and Wendy shuddered with the overwhelming feeling she was experiencing with all these questions being posed to her and thrown around drastically. She tried to think on every topic but Mallory was blowing through so many at once and they all required answers she didn't have. "My life from here is a downward spiral and I'm afraid it's never going to change and I can never get off the carousel and try a new ride. I can never have half the things I dream about, and I wake up weeping because I know the truth of them. I hate that and I hate them! Yet, they give me a moment of happiness as I sleep before they bring me down, so I never want to wake up. That's the worse part. Waking up. I wish I never woke."

"Maybe Sandy is just trying -" Wendy offered, her small ten year old brain not entirely sure how to react in a situation such as this, but Mallory's eyes flashed and she presented a snarl to her.

"Well sometimes good dreams are nightmares!" Wendy winced at the harsh tone she was sharing with her. Mallory's face softened immediately at how she pulled away and she reached to hug her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell... I just wonder if a nightmare wouldn't be better. It would make my waking hours seem better than sleep."

"But then you would be afraid and hopeless," Wendy added.

"And how is that any different than now?" Wendy swallowed.

"I'm ten, Mallory. I have no idea what to say. This is grown up stuff." A release of air sounded from the older girl's mouth as she let go of her almost cousin and looked at her fondly.

"I just want Sandy and Tooth to stop playing with my mind for a bit. I want dreamless sleep."

"That doesn't exactly make you feel well rested."

"I hate it though. Dreams, nightmares. Anything I dream about stresses me out. So I don't want any. That's that." Then Mallory leaned forward and pressed her body against the wall, leaning on the bed beside Wendy. "I just don't want to be alone. So I thought I could sleep with you? I would feel more comfortable with Jack and Morgan here but they're still out."

"Of course," Wendy laughed, throwing back the covers more. Mallory shimmied her way into the covers and wrinkled her nose so Wendy laughed at the face she was making.

"I think it's going to be like grief," Wendy told her. "I think you help and love and support, it will last a long time but it will fade. You'll never forget about it and it will still hurt but you will be able to move on with your life. Or I dunno. Something like that." But even as she spoke, Wendy did not feel too good about her response. For some reason, she could not bring herself to believe it and there was doubt in her heart. She frowned even as Mallory smiled. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she was wrong and she sighed and blushed with her embarrassment. She didn't feel confident in hr answer, even though it seemed to satisfy Mallory immensely. The teenager nestled her head into the pillow, peacefully drifting away, but Wendy remained awake. She felt off and uncomfortable.

The figures in the room were where they should be, and nothing looked out of place. Everything was in its particular order, her furniture, her wall décor, her toys, her books. The room was clean, nothing had been shuffled about. But there was definitely something in the room that didn't belong. Wendy knew her room, she knew every placement an every shadow in it. The strangeness of the arrangement of her room caused her to hyperventilate while her fear poisoned her insides and began to creep up into her soul. Mallory slept soundly, unbothered by the shaking of Wendy's body and how she grew so frigid to the lack of light. Wendy slipped out of her bed and leaned against the arrangement of drawers, balling her fists as she watched the darkness in the corner solidify.

"So, you seem to have noticed me," came the liquid voice of the Boogeyman as he took complete form. "I wondered when it would happen. To be honest, I expected it to happen much sooner than this. You know, for a Guardian child, they really haven't taught you to detect fear too well, have they?" He quickly became interested in the various odd knick knacks around her room and picked up a book of fairy tales, flipping through it slowly. Wendy pushed her lips together, some of her fear replaced with the tiny itch of agitation she was experiencing from watching someone as slimy as the Boogeyman go through some of her prized possessions and insult her family.

"They never taught me detect fear, only how to combat it," she barked at him.

"Oh, right, and that's why you're running to me and trying to beat me up, then?" he said to her with his laughing golden eyes, setting the book back on the shelf and soothing Wendy's feelings once again. She scoffed and crossed her arms, appearing tougher than she actually felt.

"Not combat as in fighting, stupid," she snarled. "Like, work against. Control it."

"Mmhmm. You did a good job of that these past few weeks. You know, to be honest, I am a little disappointed in myself. I can't believe til now I never detected your fear, and never even thought about where you would be located. Of course I didn't even know you existed until recently. You truly do have a strong hold on your own fears, don't you?" Wendy puffed her chest with pride. "Ah, yes, I see it. You almost could be related to your parents. Oh but you're not are you? Nor will you ever be. It seems you were just chucked aside in the garbage when you were younger."

"You shut your mouth you know nothing about me!" Wendy shrieked at him, arms now shaking with the coursing churn of fear into anger. Pitch's smile carved charm into his expression.

"But of course, your concern for Mallory dropped your guard and you no longer concerned yourself with your defenses. Oh, and you're what, ten? I suppose you've also reached the age where you don't want to admit that you're afraid of the dark and so you stop using a nightlight. I see it affects even those who know there is every reason to be afraid of the dark." A stream of tears threatened Wendy's eyes, but she kept hold of them on the edges of her eyelids.

"How did you even get in here?"

"Same way I always do. Closet. Bed. Your smell of fear quickly became stronger after you moved up with here and Mallory and I simply followed it. And I have to say, I am very pleased. You and I could have such fun moments now, dear Wendy. Think of everything we could be involved in. I regret missing all those chances to play with you."

"You mean give me nightmares!" Wendy corrected. Pitch held out his arms, a sign of innocence.

"Have you had a nightmare the entire time you've been here? Have you ever even had a nightmare?"

"Well... no-"

"My point exactly. I stayed back. I know this is a sensitive time of everyone and I didn't want to upset that."

"I've still been anxious."

"An unfortunate mistake."

"Yeah I bet it was..." Mallory shifted and rubbed her eyes, patting Wendy's shoulder to tell her to get back to sleep. Then her dark eyes shifted through the room and fell on the shadow man standing tall in the center of Wendy's room. She screamed fiercely.

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**So I have to reach Great Expectations for school. Have you seen that book? It's incredibly intimidating.**

**I'll probably get something up this weekend. See ya then I guess.**


	28. Challenging Fears

**Getting things accomplished is a fantastic feeling. I got all my homework done this weekend Yaaaayyyyy! Happy dance.**

**I like and hate this chapter. I like the way its written but hate how detached it feels.**

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Mallory sat up and clutched the blanket that had been draped around her. She crawled backwards, almost a crab walk, to where the bed had been pushed up into the corner of the wall, hiding herself as far as she could possibly go. Pitch's eyes gleaned through liquid silver and gold as he turned his gaze on the young woman on the bed. His smile twisted into a malice mixed with sweetness, both terrifying and inviting. His charm had soothed Mallory but everything else about him, his demeanor, his shadow, and his ominous aura had plunged fear straight into her. She quaked and shuddered under his influence.

"You – you're..." she panted. Pitch motioned his arm, gesturing for her to get the correct words out.

"Yes, I am the Boogeyman, Pitch Black, Prince of Nightmares, King of Fear, the list could go on," he chuckled warmly, and eerie slither in his voice. "And you're Mallory Lichter, daughter of Linda Lichter, goddaughter of Morgan Barry..." At the mention of Morgan's name, his voice trailed off and something similar to sadness flickered in the dangerous fire of his eyes. He only lingered for a second before returning to his state of persuasive intimidation.

"I feel like... I've seen you before..." Mallory muttered, squinting her eyes to get a good look.

"Probably," he agreed. "I've been around. Pop in now and again."

"You..." she began to sob and chucked pillows at the dark man that stood before them. "It's you! If I hadn't been so afraid to tell mom and dad, all of this could have been avoided! You did this to me! Do you have any idea what kind of life I live now?! Do you have any idea what kind of suffering I am enduring! You little shit!" Pitch jumped out of the way of each pillow, but it was the alarm clock that struck him in the shoulder. He stumbled a bit, but it seemed to have no impact and he simply dusted off his black robes, and rolled his shoulder around a bit.

"You really expect you can remove fear from everything?" he questioned. "Fear is a part of life and you need to deal with it." He took a step forwards and Mallory leapt back. The infection of her terror was spreading and growing fiercer with its embodiment standing in front of them. Her pulse quickened with the singing of her thoughts about what may happen now and all of the possibilities. Mallory's breath was heavy and there was a chill on her skin from paranoia's tickle. Wendy noticed the perspiration beginning to crawl down her friend's skin and the white complexion that fear often gave. She observed how her pupils dilated and the tremors of her arms and legs. Of course Wendy was concerned, and nervous about what Pitch would do. But Mallory was in a horrible place and her mental state was not exactly the best in the most recent weeks. Her confidence was down, her strength to deal with stress, and her ability to make sensible choices and react accordingly was not where it normally would have been. She could not let her worries take over her right now. Mallory needed her in that moment. Jack and Morgan were gone, and the Yetis in the shop would have no idea he was there.

"It's up to me," she whispered, and she spread her stance, taking her ground.

"How precious!" Pitch laughed. "Do you really think that you, a child, can defeat me?"

"Why not?" Wendy giggled. "You are fear. But I'm not afraid of you, so you can't hurt me!"

"Your heart rate says you're lying," he said. "And Mallory is definitely afraid of me."

"Wendy stop you're just a-"

"A child?!" Wendy scoffed. "Please, Mallory. That's exactly why I can do this!" Wendy ran forwards as Mallory gasped and Pitch jumped out of the way. Out in the hall was the sound of nails scraping against hard flooring and then the door flew open. Licorice stood in the entrance, snarling at Pitch as he launched into the wall and chuckled at how he swiftly avoided the attack. Wendy slammed her foot into the floor and then turned, just as the dog was coming up and tackling Pitch's side. For a second, Pitch's eyes glowed with his own surprised worry while Licorice decided to use the edge of his robes as tug of war.

Wendy fell to the floor and used her left hand to push against the Boogeyman's chest. Between her and the dog, he was struggling to break free. With her right hand, she flung curled fingers into his nose. Just as her fist met skin, he was no longer there. The dark attire her wore had formed around him and cloaked him in shadow. Around the room, his image pressed into the walls and they could hear the reverb of his mad cackling sound throughout the entirety of Wendy's bedroom. Then, the shadow took to the underside of the bed and vanished. Wendy looked, but the lifting of fear and the absence of anxiety told her he had left the house. She was feeling lighter and calmer about the situation. Mallory, however, appeared traumatized by the event.

"What was that?!" she screamed.

"That was the Boogeyman..."

"I know that but... but... weren't you scared?!" she yelled, swinging Wendy up into her arms for a hug.

"Yes, of course I was. Especially for you."

"Then how in the world did you stand up to him like that?!" Mallory breathed excitably. "You almost seemed like you weren't afraid."

"I didn't let fear pull me down," Wendy said simply. "I refused to let it take over me. I just simply decided I was going to work past it and charged it out of the way. That's all."

"You are amazing and wonderful!" Mallory laughed, pulling her cousin down with her and then proceeded to tickle her, shuffling the unseen black sand left on the pillow.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"And you didn't come and get us?!" Jack demanded as he finished listening to Wendy and Mallory's story. Wendy had expected him to be weeping with pride for how she had taken on the Boogeyman. The first thing he did after she revealed the whole event was start bellowing. She winced at his reaction. Mallory straightened her back in the chair an displayed admiration for the heroics of the young girl.

"She knew how to handle him!" she told them. "Honestly, you should have seen her charge and take him! I think he left because he was the one who was afraid. It was amazing, really!" Wendy blushed at Mallory's comment and giggled sheepishly. Mallory beamed and lightly elbowed her.

"But you could have-" Morgan began.

"Could have what?" Wendy chuckled. "Had nightmares? Become afraid?"

"That's not all he does!" The girl's smile dropped.

"What do you mean...?"

"I mean there are things about my past with Pitch you don't know!" Jack raised his eyebrow, looking to her with curious worry. He was a little concerned about whether or not this was the best subject to bring up.

"Mom, what do you-"

"He's more than nightmares and fear. That's all I'm saying."

"But... I don't-"

"Wendy, drop it," Jack snapped, knowing if this conversation dragged out anymore there would be secrets revealed, and he was not prepared for her to know them. He looked to his daughter with a deep rooted worry, reaching out to hold her. He softened his expression and stroked her dark hair, voice mellowing while he spoke to her. "Snowdrop. I just want you to know that idea... of Pitch being here..."

"He knows where you live," Morgan added with melancholy tones. "And that concerns us. That means now he can get into your mind and manipulate you."

"But he won't!" Wendy said, struggling away from Jack's grasp. "Trust me, Mom. Dad. I can fight him! He hasn't gotten into my mind yet and he won't."

"Why are we going to do, Jack?" Morgan uttered quietly, twirling her hosta plant in her hand. "We have to go out and look for him, we can't stay here with Wendy. But if Pitch is here how can we be out there?"

"No!" Wendy burst out, knocking over the chair she had been sitting on. "I proved something last night! And it's that I can handle myself against the Boogeyman! Stop treating me like a kid and start treating me like a believer!"

"I was terrified," Mallory voiced. "I was frozen practically, and Wendy moved, faster than I ever could. She jumped right in. Even at my best I could never react that way. You two did very well in raising her how to fight against her fears. I think it worked far better than you ever could have expected it to work. I'm not saying leave her home alone. Do as you've always done. Kept a Yeti here. But she doesn't need to run to you for every little thing, he doesn't need you to check the closet or under the bed. She can do that herself and pull him out and beat him until he hides again. Your daughter is strong. I just think you're gone too much to have seen it." Mallory twisted her lips into a smile and Jack looked at her through several blinks. He groaned and reached his arm up and around his head as he thought.

"Daddy..." she hushed. "I am a Guardian child. Which means I know a thing or two about guarding against the Boogeyman." Jack and Morgan exchanged looks. She shook her head and he shrugged, finally relenting.

"You really socked it to him?"

"She was a pro," Mallory said. Then Jack smirked, lifting his daughter into his arms and pressing his frozen lips to her face several times. She wailed in delight at his affections and then slung her arms around his neck.

"You know what? Mallory is probably right," he said. Morgan rolled her eyes, but still her face glowed with pride for her daughter. She approached them to give Wendy a kiss on the cheek. A tear made its way down Mallory's face as she rose and smile through everything. She continued to watch Wendy with a new kind of sight, something a little more than pride bursting forth, and far beyond admiration. It was something much closer to idolization.

"Jack, Morgan..." she whispered, and her small voice had broken the chuckles and the giggles that were beginning to fill the room. When their faces had fallen to reservation and they waited for her to speak, she suddenly grew timid. Her knees shook and she had to use the table to steady herself, but she cleared all insecurities from her throat and arched her neck before speaking. "If Morgan can fight against fear, then I can too. And I can work past this. I can combat hurt and control my fears so it doesn't control me. I don't want to be like this any longer. I hate being in the darkness. I am grateful for you letting me stay here so long but I think I need to return to the real world. But first, I need to locate someone of understanding and I need to know I am not alone in my struggles. I need to know that this is not impossible to get through." Morgan pushed past her husband and daughter and entwined her arms around Mallory, strengthening her grip on her.

"You are always welcome here if you ever need to run to somewhere," Morgan said.

"I know," Mallory said, smearing away the tears falling on her face. "But I don't like feeling helpless or hopeless, and I hate the way this... fear is controlling me. I can feel it pulling me down a dark path and I don't want to go that way. In order to take fear down, you have to face it head on. And I can't do that if I am running away from it." Morgan nodded and Jack stepped forward, setting Wendy down on the ground. He brushed his lips against her hair and she brightened at his support.

"You have the strength of your mother and the determination of your father," he told her, brushing her cheek. "So, what did you have in mind then?"

"Sophie," she whispered. "I want to visit Sophie."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Soft murmurs could be heard from the dainty and pastel living room where Sophie and Mallory were speaking quietly. There was an occasional chuckle, which Jack took to be a good sign, but mostly it was very gentle and heart wrenching. Occasionally there was a sob, and Sophie shared sympathy, empathy, support, and encouragement for what she was feeling.

"Eavesdropping is not very becoming," shook Ms. Bennett's voice as she pulled a smile onto her face. Jack focused his attention back to the elderly woman who sat before him. He breathed lightly, taking her small joke with gladness.

"I just want to make sure she's okay..." he assured, catching brief moments of the conversation in the other room when Sophie shared the story of how her situation, long ago, with Patrick had not actually been justified until much later. Patrick had not been found and put in prison until seven years ago, after he had been found assaulting his wife. Only then had he been put away and despite all those years knowing he was still around, she had found the strength to make it through, get married, have kids, and that she knew Mallory was much stronger and would make it through everything and come out so much better than she did.

"I know," Ms. Bennett said in her strained voice. When she had heard Jack was dropping by, she had pleaded to stop by and visit. It was harder for her to get around those days and the Guardians were out so often. Plus Jack was also a parent and had a wife and she understood how all of those things together could prevent someone from seeing their mother figure. Ms. Bennett jumped on the opportunity to visit the boy she had loved as a son. Jack, however, had noticed how lack of time visiting her had meant having to see her age so drastically. Her hip was bothering, and she used a slender cane to help her get around these days. He watched other people grow up and get older, but Ms. Bennett was his oldest believer. Never before had he had to watch someone he truly cared for obtain wrinkles and suffer through the pains of getting older and just look as old as she was looking. It hurt more than anything else, because he only told him the thing he wanted so much to avoid thinking about. Time was not something he wanted to consider at the moment.  
Instead, he distracted himself and her, spilling out stories about Wendy, and her new friends, and what they were like and how big she was getting and laughing over concerns for her when she got older. Ms. Bennett loved hearing about things happening in Jack's laugh and begged to hear more about some of their battles with Pitch.

Laughter from the other room soothed Jack as Ms. Bennett commented on how proud she had was about everything Jack and Morgan had become, and she thought they were doing a fine job of raising Wendy, even if they screwed up sometimes. He smiled at her comment.

"What about you?" he asked, motioning to draw the attention onto her. "Pitch hasn't really made his way into your house, has he? I mean he's really affecting a lot of the adults out there..." he told her. She brushed her hand in the air and shook her hand so as not to worry about it.

"I have no reason to fear Pitch. I have an army of Guardians on my side. And apparently one brave little girl!" she told him. "He hasn't been around that I've seen and he has no reason to be. I'm just an old woman. I have no more kids to take care of, so there's no influence to impart on. I wouldn't be fun to him at all. You have no cause to be concerned." Her eyes lit up and she listened to the voice from the other room, which now seemed to drift onto other topics and was far more light hearted. "Listen to that. Despite what that young woman has gone through, she is still finding her laughter and still gaining her strength back. She has every cause to be afraid of everything as much as one can be, yet she has worked through her fears. My Guardian must be doing something right. Why would I have any reason to fear Pitch?" Jack grinned at her comment just as Sophie emerged into the kitchen, leading Mallory by the arm.

"Ready to go home?" Jack offered, and he was given the response in the form of a nod. Sophie hugged the girl quickly, whispering softly into her ear. Mallory nodded before pulling away, and Jack met Ms. Bennett's warm hug with his own.

"Don't stress over it too much," she told him. "You have strong forces with you, you can beat this guy. You've got incredible strength in belief now, and in some of the strongest people I've seen."

"Okay, Helen. Mothers know best," he agreed in sort of mocking reluctance. Jack led Mallory to the door, where he looked back at his family.

"Don't forget to call!" Sophie shouted after the girl. "I want to make sure you're doing all right."

"Will you be all right?" Jack asked, turning to Ms. Bennett. She laughed and then waved her hand to tell him to forget about it. He laughed and met with Mallory outside, gripping onto her and jetting off into the sky. He looked back down at the house once more and bit his lip. All that talk she gave him about fighting against fear, and he could not defeat his own fear about people he loved the most passing away in the near future.

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**Have a good night guys! Rosie out.**


	29. Too Good to be True

**It has been a REALLY long time since I wrote a chapter I really liked and I liked this one. Also little bit of manners to impart on you. If you're someone who looks at something in a store and then just tosses it aside on the ground with the thought "Oh the workers will clean it up!" PLEASE STOP. Yes, it's part of what we do, but if many people do that, we get a big mess, and if they keep doing that when we're trying to clean up, it gets bigger and just... no. We're trying to keep stores clean but we can't do that if customers keep messing it up. We can only do so much. Help a sista or brotha out...  
Also, please do not bring 40 items into a 20 items or less lane! And NEVER EVER EVER go into a line that says "Lane Closed" and or has the light off.**

**As you can tell I had a very trying day. Onto story goodness.**

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_January_

She continued to watch the scene play out, flickering as if it was threatening to fizzle away. Wendy stood before ceremony, in front of North, smiling joyously as the fanfare rang. Several of the mini fairies draped a flowing necklace around her and two of the Yetis placed a long cloak across her shoulders. Morgan clutched her daughter tightly and stroked her hair. A tear froze in place on Jack's cheek and he kissed her face. The two of them watched their daughter approach the center of the stage and wait patiently for North's declaration. This was the day she had been longing for since she was incredibly young, and now she was beginning to explode with every positive emotion she could ever produce. She sighed happily and then met North's own smile with the exposure of her teeth to display her happiness. The book opened and he began to speak, reciting words that he had several times before, for his own parents. He asked if she were willing to protect the Philosophy of Childhood and she didn't waver in her answer. The fanfare sounded again with her answer and then he uttered those words she had wanted so long to hear.

Wendy yelped when her mother swung her out of her bed and picked her up. The images of bedroom seeped into the pictures that still remained in her dream and then she became aware that she was still human. Nothing had happened and she was still just as mortal as everyone else on earth, and there was no ceremony to welcome her as one of the Guardians. While Morgan laughed and sang with celebration, Wendy moaned and let her chin tilt into her shoulder. Quickly, she released her arms and Wendy stumbled to find her balances again. She yawned and looked at her mother sadly.

"Wenders?" she whispered worriedly. Instinctively, she placed a hand against her forehead. "Are you okay?"

"Mom, I'm not sick," she told her. "I've never been sick. It's too cold for germs to live up here."

"You don't look okay..."

"Just tired. And a little terrified. I was not expecting you to rip me out of bed." What Wendy had told her was true. Although there were many occasions when Morgan or Jack had come into her room to wake her up, never once did they so enthusiastically pick her up and spin her around. Her excitement was infectious, and Wendy could definitely feel a bit of a buzz from her energy, but the emptiness her dream had given her just blocked all general feelings of happiness from blossoming. She sighed and forced a grin. Morgan eyed her suspiciously, but then decided she was satisfied with the reaction. Giggling, she pulled her daughter through the hallway and into the kitchen. Immediately, Morgan flew from where she stood over to the oven where Jack was standing over the griddle.

"No, no, no!" she protested, lightly slapping his arm while she pushed him away. "How many times do I have to tell you you will freeze anything that is cooking on the stove?"

"I just want to help, she's my daughter too..." he smirked with laughter rolling in his electric blue eyes.

"Set the table, Frostbiter," Morgan insulted, passing over plates with silverware on them. Wendy yawned again and then was smothered in a hug from Jack. She inhaled the relaxing sharpness of bitter cold and then buried her face into his sweatshirt.

"Good morning, Snowdrop," he said.

"I want to go back to bed..." she grumbled, trying to tear away from them and head back down the hall to her door. Jack held a firm grip on her however. He glowed as he looked at her and shuffled her over to the table.

"I know, you're tired," he sympathized. "But your mother and I-"

"Excuse me," Morgan warned, her voice low as she reminded him of what actually happened.

"I peeled the oranges and I made sure the chocolate didn't melt!"

"But I cooked it!"

"Because you won't let me!"

"That's because you always freezer burn everything!"

"Guys..." Wendy moaned, the familiar clench of her gut sickening her. She always had the uneasy, nausea sweep over her whenever an argument was brewing between the two of them. "Please don't do this now..." The winter spirit reached a hand up and slid his fingers along his lips, demonstrating zipping them shut. A sliver of a grin carved into Wendy's lips and Morgan smiled at the two of them interact. From the stove, she flipped a few pieces of toast with golden swirls on it onto a plate, and then picked up a peeled orange of the counter top. She smashed the orange slice so it's juice dripped and sprayed all over the toast and then she drizzled chocolate frosting over it. With the fondness of a mother, Morgan marched over to Wendy an rested the plate before her.

"You never let me have this," Wendy observed, twitching her nose at the sight of her favorite breakfast food. "You always said you should never have frosting for breakfast."

"Well, it's your birthday. I decided I could make an exception." Wendy found it a little easier to smile at her mother's act, and she turned to press her lips into her cheek. Somehow, that simple little thing caused her heart to lift and the cavity below it filled with electrified energy. Her tiredness faded and she was no longer too disappointed. Once she began to get that feeling of wholeness again, she dug her fork into her food and began to shovel it into her mouth.

"Wan ith-"

"Okay, you're not allowed to speak with your mouth open," Jack reminded lightly. "There will never be an exception for that."

"Unless you're bleeding and need immediate care," Morgan made sure to put with amusement crossing her gaze.

"Or dying." Wendy's fork clattered against her plate at the word "dying." She gasped quickly and then hid it with a sneeze. Dying was a word she was struggling to come to terms with these days. Her parents would not die, but she would. It felt a little unfair. Then she remembered her dream and how it just seemed to invigorate her in a way she had never thought possible, and the longing to go back to sleep came again. She wanted that same feeling, how it billowed elation in the crevices of her body and she was submerged in the greatest emotion. There would be a day when she would die, and though she knew she had to die to become a spirit, the chances of such were incredibly slim. While there were a few dozen spirits scattered throughout the world, those were spirits that were gathered over periods of hundreds of thousands of years through so may people. That meant the chance of Wendy becoming something she had only ever dreamed about – literally – was almost nothing. And then there was Guardian on top of it. Where they were, there was only six. The chances of becoming that were even less. Only the Moon could decide who was worthy, and the Moon's judgment was fair.

Wendy also knew his judgment was based on sacrifice, selflessness, concern for children, protective spirit, and the greatest love to ever exists. With that knowledge hammered firmly into her mind she wasn't so sure she would ever be able to perform Guardian duties on the basis on the traits. She would perform them all right, but only with the hopes of being selected to be a Guardian. And that was not selflessness, that was selfishness; a huge reason she would not get selected. Thinking through it all just banged against her head until it throbbed with intensity. She wanted the dream. All she wanted at that moment was to fall asleep and keep confined in her dream. Her mother always told her imagination could create reality. Maybe if she kept on dreaming, it would becoming real. Wendy nearly choked on her French toast with the ridiculousness of her mind's process.

"Okay, you two promise you'll be okay setting everything up?" Morgan asked as she shuffled a long cream colored coat around her shoulders. Jack threw her mischievous look and she groaned with worried agitation.

"I'm joking!" he laughed. "Go, go! The sooner you get Wendy's friends here, the sooner we can start!"

"Why did I decided to do this...?" Morgan asked the sky and then turned the knob on the front door before escaping the house. Jack looked to his daughter who was finishing up her food.

"Do you want to have a snowball fight inside the house while your mother is out?" he asked. Memories of countless times when her dad had gotten in trouble for doing such things surfaced to her brain and the nostalgia filled her with glee. It had been a while since last they did it as Morgan hated it, saying it ruined a lot of the good designs of the house and was horrible on the woodwork, but she realized with his remarked she missed it. Plus, the thrill of doing it under mom's nose made her lust for it even more. For a couple of hours, she forgot all about the greatest fantasy to ever plague her slumbering mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had only taken a half hour for the whole house to be trashed, although part of that had been caused by the previous snowball fight Wendy and Jack had gotten into. The other part was from Licorice running around and galloping after the kids as thy ran through the house. Most of the things that had been knocked over were because the kids had tripped and fallen.

"Go back to start!" Zeta demanded, her voice surprisingly harsh as she pointed an accusing finger at Nathan. Wendy laughed, loving the rare moments she got to see her best friend so authoritative. It was a pleasant change in someone so passive.

"Okay, okay..." Nathan grumbled, but smirked as he moved his pieces on the board around. Dylan rolled the dice and discovered with frown that he was too be eaten by alligators and had to lose his turn before he could fight his way out of them.

"Oh that figures," he humphed. "Eaten by alligators definitely seems to be my lot in life."

"It's okay," Zeta softly told him, patting his shoulder. "You can fight your way out of the alligator, I know you can."

"In the game, or in life?" he challenged with a raised eyebrow. Zeta blushed as she struggled for the answer.

"Well, the game definitely... but I do think you also will be okay and do great things in life, Dylan. I mean, I don't see how you couldn't."

"This is getting too deep," Elizabeth interrupted, tossing her dice across the board. "Let's just play the damn game how about." Wendy's eyes flicked up to her sister, still coming to terms with hearing her use such language, especially since lately her vulgarity had actually surpassed Nathan lately. Zeta flinched. She was uncomfortable with swear words. She didn't even really care for the word "crap." "Yes! I get to advance to the next tier! Suck on that, ya losahs!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Nathan snapped as Wendy began her move. "You have to find your way through a thick jungle. What tool are you going to use?"

"Uhhh..." Wendy glanced at her cards. "Twine."

"How the hell can you cut grass with twine?!" Elizabeth snorted as she took Wendy's card from her.

"Well maybe a whip then... I lost my machete..." Wendy said, eyes following the path on the game board. It was starting to sink, the memories of how many fights had started over this game in particular. Of course, it was the one that just happened to be Wendy's favorite.

"Oh look at that I got a double!" Nathan screamed, chucking the dice in Elizabeth's face. "That means I'm nearly back up to you guys."

"Shut up, ass!"

"Elizabeth..." warned Morgan from the other room.

"Sorry mom!" Elizabeth shouted. Her eyes rolled, showing she was not sorry. A few more turns, a few more arguments, and the game had completed, Elizabeth only slapping people twice and Nathan only earning one bruise from his sister. It was probably the safest game Wendy had ever played with her siblings.

"Elizabeth, Nathan, I need your help in the kitchen!" Morgan called. Sluggishly, the two Barry children picked up their feet and trudged along into the other room. There was the rush and slap of water as the sink filled up and Wendy could tell they had told to help with the dishes.

"Was there something you were going to say to us?" Zeta reminded her friends, and nodded with shocked remembrance. She sat up and let both her friends into her bedroom, where all three of them proceeded to sit on her bed. As Wendy recounted her dream, she got that pinch of desire again to lie down and let herself sleep away back into that dreamworld. As always, Dylan frowned while she spoke, and Zeta wore a look of perplexity with her thought. Wendy was sure to tell them all the details about the dream, as well as the general overall feeling – that it was a wonderful dream and she was dying to go back to sleep so she could have it again.

"This is about the fourth time a dream has done this to you..." Zeta calculated.

"Yep," Wendy confirmed. "The last one was about three weeks ago, I think. And I started feeling really good a week ago and didn't feel too depressed over it. Now this happened. I don't know what to make of it. I've heard of good dreams, but never something so wonderful that it kills you to wake up. I'm not tired even, I just want to have it again."

"Who's to say it would even be the same dream?" Dylan voiced. "Last time you didn't dream about that."

"No..." Wendy sighed while she pressed her chin into the palm of her hand. "And the other two before that. I could never continue them. I've had them and they don't come up again. And then I still and think about them and go over what ifs. Even today. I was so excited for my birthday party, and this morning I just didn't want to be here. I could only think about my future and how that probably won't reflect the future my parents had. I just kept thinking about it and the more I thought, the more depressed I got over it." She wasn't sure how to explain such sickly feelings about something like a dream. It was just far too much for her to believe, but she loved every bit of it.

"Well let's see," came Zeta's soft voice, but with responsible demeanor. "What was your first Dream?"

"That I was attending public school."

"And the second one?"

"I lived in Harrisburg and could see you guys all the time."

"The third one was the one where discovered your place of birth, wasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm!" said Wendy. Zeta bit her lip, while concerned outlined on her forehead.

"These are all things that you really want to happen," Dylan said, as she stared at the floor to help himself figure it out.

"But never will," Wendy moped. "One way or another. And that's the part that stresses me out."

"Huh,"he mumbled. "Too much happiness is upsetting you. That's a new one. Well, I guess I must be delightful, because I'm never happy," he teased. Wendy threw a stuffed cat at him and then parted her teeth to grin.

"I don't know if I've heard of that..." Zeta muttered, and then her ears pricked at the sound of Jack's whimsical voice flooding in from the hallways. "Oh!"

"Wendy, do you think you could-"

"I got it Mr. Frost!" she squealed. Flailing wildly, she escaped from the bedding and skipped into the other room, where Jack was chuckling loudly at her excitement. Wendy slapped her hand to her forehead. Dylan boisterously chuckled and hung his head low.

"She has no idea she doesn't stand a chance," he sighed, but his tone was of endearment for the girl.

"My parents love each other... a little too much. They kiss a lot and its gross." She demonstrated her revulsion by letting her tongue fall out of her mouth and making a face. Dylan smiled at her, and then the corners of his lips dropped. He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"What's the big deal anyway?" he added quietly.

"I know! I mean, mom says I'll find out some day, and I guess it's kind of cute the way Dad treats her and everything. But kissing? That's just gross. It's s like spit on spit. I'm sure disease spread faster that way."

"Maybe it's just something to have to try to know..." he whispered. "Do you want to find out?"

The comment caught Wendy so off guard, she didn't hear it for five seconds. When she did recognize what he had said, her eyes bulged at she stared at him as if he had asked her to do something wildly inappropriate.

"Uhhh..."

"Just to find out!" Dylan corrected, face white washed with his own embarrassment. "It has nothing to do with any feelings for you. It's just, you want to know, I want to know.. we're alone so no one would make fun of us, or ever know. Zeta's probably going to lose track of time looking at you dad." She pressed her lips together, going over the suggestion very carefully in her mind. The proposition sounded ridiculous and a little adult, but maybe it was how people found out, and maybe she would understand a little more about adults.

"Okay," she agreed, deciding she would probably need to know for educational purposes. "Just a quick kiss on the lips."

"Right," Dylan said, face now flourishing. He seemed to recognize the weakness in her arms as they wobbled in her lap, because he pushed himself up and moved forwards. Wendy breathed and then closed her eyes, inhaling air until she felt the tickle of his wet lips grazing hers. As quick as they appeared they were gone again, and Wendy took a moment to let it sink in. His lips were warm, but other than that all she felt was skin and wet. And perhaps a little bit of embarrassment. But there was no electricity or fire or whatever it was the adults were calling it those days. She had no explosion of excitement.

"Huh," she said, looking at him. "Nothing."

"Oh good! I thought it was just me..." he laughed. The color in his face seemed healthier now and she was pleased to see him so normal looking.

"So nobody knows right?" Wendy reminded him. "Not even Zeta."

"Course not," he winked. "We're just going to keep a secret. Between us." Wendy giggled, finding a bit of happiness in the idea of a secret. Secrets with friends were just another thing that she thought would never happen in her life.

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**Okay so now I am going to pass out. See ya later my rosettes! Night!**


	30. Ugly Green Monster

**Rose101XD is a fantastic person! The other day I received a package in the mail from her, a late birthday gift and it was so touching! All the gifts were beautiful but she left a fantastically written note and I loved every bit of it!**

**I had a WONDERFUL Day guys! It was just one of those days when everything worked out the way it should have, and I am happy to report it hasn't stopped. I have a wonderful chapter for you that I love and so much happens and its so good!**

* * *

Jack was trying very hard to remain civil to Cupid. Their relationship was an odd one. Even though he knew the spirit of love was in general a good guy and his reasons for particular traits that seemed a little despicable to most people were actually valid, he made him uncomfortable. Knowing that he had agreed to sleep with Morgan at one of her weakest points had certainly damaged much of his judgment for the man, and not just because she was his wife; he also thought he was disgusting for agreeing to do so. It also bothered him that he walked out on so many people – even though Jack understood his reasons for it. When it affected people he knew, he didn't much like it. He recalled moments of when Morgan was younger and Cupid would comment on he beauty and how he couldn't wait until she was "of age." Looking now at Wendy, and how she leapt up to "Uncle Cupid" as she called him while he entered through the door with gift in hand, his stomach clenched and his head ached with the memories of everything Cupid ever did. Watching the way he swung her around pushed up every bit of snow and icicle in him so he was ready to create a blizzard with his mouth. Between Cupid's past, his past with Morgan, comments he made, he closeness to Wendy, and what had happened with Mallory, he had to will every thing in his soul to keep from kicking Cupid right out the door. He knew he was being paranoid and that Cupid had always been nothing but respectable to her, there was always that dread that when she turned eighteen things were going to go very differently. It was hard to trust him completely when he could influence someone into seduction just by walking into a room, he was attracted to everyone on the planet, and his very own daughter was so close to him.

"Jackie!" Cupid cooed, slapping a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Ooh, look at you! All that fighting with Pitch has really toned those muscles of yours! Unless there's something entirely different that's been putting you into shape." His gaze towards Morgan as she threw her head back in laughter and the raise of his eyebrow suggested something much more sensual and Jack let his breath roll in his throat at him. But he understood that Cupid was not merely just being his usual perverse self – he was genuinely trying to address a problem that he know doubt was aware of.

"You know all about it, so why even ask?" he simply snapped.

"It just worries me, Jack boy, that's all."

"Our love life is none of your business." Cupid snickered and shook his friend's shoulder, abdomen shaking with his explosive guffawing.

"You realize who you are talking to here? It most certainly is my business."

"Can we not do this now?" Jack said, turning his head to watch as Wendy began to rip into her presents. Her friends and siblings stood around her. Bunny was conversing in some light conversation with Morgan and North stood by, eyes lit by Wendy's wonder as she opened a new gift. Tooth flitted around apprehensively with a few of her fairies nearby, and Sandy hovered, sipping a glass of milk greedily. Wendy held up a new bright orange lamp in the shape of an octopus and Jack smirked, loving the way she cheered over the odd object. Her interests were far beyond that of the average girl sometimes.

"I just think that in a world when Pitch is rampant and causing distress on the whole of the world, you and Morgan should really work hard together. I would really hate to see something happen with the two of your. I don't know if I've been so fond of a couple before."

"You're not allowed to pick favorites," Jack taunted, a little bit of humor hanging in his voice.

"Neither are parents, but yet it still happens sometimes," he responded with a smile but there was still an air of disappointment.

"Morgan and I are fine."

"Right now you are," he warned.

"We're always together though! We teach Wendy together, we go see her kids together, we fight Pitch together! There's almost a moment when we're not together! And we're still mad for each other."

"Oh, this conversation I getting so old..." Cupid moaned with a yawn. "You've been told before that romance and keeping the fire alive does not mean jumping into a bush for a quickie. I mean sure, that's fine on occasion, but when that's all you ever do... I mean you need a more intimate setting than that. You need time to yourselves, you need to go on a real date. You need to date as if you were fifteen again. Remember the very first date you ever took Morgan on? At the Tavern? She _loved_ that and remembers it forever. Sex is not always romance, you know. Sometimes you need the romance without the sex. And sometimes you need sex to not be so... adventurously crude." Jack was trying hard to ignore him, and Cupid could read that very well on his face. He rubbed his eyes and then continued on. "Jack you're my friend, even though you don't trust me. And I get it. I slept with Morgan long ago and you think me an ass for not telling her 'no.' But she thought it would help and different things work for different people. But that was over twenty years ago, you can't let it go?!"

"I just don't like you prying into my personal life."

"Jackie, that's all I ever do," he muttered in annoyance. "It's sort of my job, you know... Not being able to satisfies yourselves properly can be really damaging in a relationship. You get needy and agitated. You so long without it that soon you go to seek it in other places, you grow used to no longer being affectionate with the other, you distance yourselves... or that agitation can simple manifest itself into arguing."

"For as much as we argue, we are just as equally affectionate," Jack barked quietly as Wendy opened a couple of Jane Austen novels from Zeta. A glance at Morgan told him she was not too happy with novels she considered to be sappy, but she smiled all the same. Jack was not enthused about the idea of her reading about romance – he didn't want to think about her wrapping her head around dating just yet. It throbbed just to even think about the possibility. "Just as Wendy. We get funny looks all the time. Look, it's her birthday party, she's eleven, can we not talk about this right now?"

"Thanks Mom and Dad!" Wendy laughed and jumped off her to chair to give a round of hugs for her gift. There was a medium sized box that held a notebook in the shape of a cookie, a comedic book appropriately titled _Guide to Being A Girl in the Real World_ – which they had found humorously ironic – and three mini sized colorful plastic guns designed to only shoot marshmallows. As everyone started to chat, noticing all the presents had been unwrapped, Dylan pushed aside some paper and noticed a small box wrapped in silver paper and handed it over to Wendy. Curiously she flipped it over, not seeing a car, tag, or any type of indication as to who it was from.

"Well, maybe it will say inside," Zeta said hopefully. Wendy nodded, deciding this was a good idea and giggled while she opened it. The small velvet box opened on a hinge and Wendy laughed excitedly at the bracelet that nestled inside. It was a beaded necklace, simple but heavy in the weight of the stones, beads made from a precious bold green type of mineral. Wendy put it on adoringly. Sandman was off to the side, listening to a conversation between Tooth and Morgan as they shared classic memories from their fights. His eyes popped at the sight of the bracelet on her wrist and he floated over to her, inspected the piece of jewelry.

"There's nothing to say who it was from?" Dylan asked, picked up the silver paper and flipping it over.

"No," Wendy said, her admiration too focused on the bracelet to really care about who gave it to her.

"That's kind of... funny," Zeta said quickly, searching for a word that would fit. Sandy raised an eyebrow, trying to get a better look at the bracelet, but she kept waving it around to see how the beads shown. He blew out a breath of air and little puffs of dreamsand dust sprouted from his ears in his frustration. "Maybe it was a part of another gift?"

"Nobody else had silver paper," Dylan said, being so ever observant.

"Could be one of the elves decided to drop it off," Wendy decided. "Cheery and I are pretty close. At least, he's the one who is ready to get into um... antics at the workshop anyway, and we always work together. We're pretty close, maybe he dropped it off. They're not really good at writing."

"They wouldn't give you something weird instead?" Dylan said. "I would think with them, they would give you something useless, like a light bulb. They seem a bit dim."

"They're not stupid," Wendy corrected, a little angry he had assumed such a thing. "They just get easily amused and distracted. That's why they don't make the toys because they get so distracted. You shouldn't judge people's intelligence just because they don't act like you or do things differently! That's such a mortal thing to do."

"Uh, you're mortal too." Wendy flinched at the word as it sliced into her and opened up a wound, but she breathed calmly and held up her head. She crossed her arms and Sandy, who was still struggling to see the curious trinket, groaned when it was hidden from view under her arm. Something about that bracelet was really getting to him, and he hadn't seen anyone bring in that small box that she had opened it from. He floated around, hoping to get a better look. The images above his head displayed a picture of the bracelet with the question mark, hoping she would figure out he was asking to see it, but as so often happened with him, she didn't even notice. He looked around for something to get her attention, drifting over the dinner table and trying to select his weapon.

"I just mean that I wasn't raised around prejudice and discrimination and brainwashed to make judgments."

"What are you saying?"

"Guys stop it..." Zeta said quietly, eyes watering as she watched the two of them start to heat up their conversation.

"I'm saying that all the history books say the same thing!" Jack's eyes immediately flicked over to Morgan, who set down her cup and broke through the few people in her way. She blushed with her embarrassment, knowing exactly where this was going. "My mom teaches me a lot of history and it seems that the history of the world of humans is incredibly repetitive and people judge all the time based on race, class, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, and a whole bunch of other things and there are hate crimes and wars and it's the stupidest thing ever! The situations change but it's still the same! All the time!"

"Not everyone is like that, Wendy!" he snarled. "Yes, we are and it's dumb and it's depressing, why do you think I hate this world? Somehow, Zeta here has a view on the world that everyone has good and it's people like her that give me hope! She balances me, and that's one of the many reasons I like having her around! But I'm not like that! Okay, so I misspoke, okay, I'm sorry, but that doesn't mean you should sit there and judge me! In fact, if we're talking about prejudices, how about you? You can't believe everything you read in history books!" Morgan gulped and a small burning sensation coursed through her with the desire to start launching into a debate, but her better sense told her not to.

"Wendy, that isn't the message I was trying-" Morgan said, attempting to pull her away and removing her arm with the bracelet on it. He peered closely at it while she tried to restrain her daughter's words.

"What do you mean prejudices?"

"'Mortals are judgmental! You speak as if we're extra terrestrials, but you're a mortal too! All you ever wanted was to be a mortal, I thought!"

"No, I want to be given the choice to live among mortals! What I want to be is a Guardian!"

"Well if mortals are so disgusting then why did you kiss me?!" His last words caused everyone to look up at Wendy and Dylan, everyone holding the same expression of popped eyes and fallen jaws. Cupid, however, was the only one with any difference of expression. He simply smirked knowingly. Wendy took a step back and her face as the color pink. She shyly bowed her head and her watery eyes gazed on Dylan. Immediately, he pursed his lips and looked at her in regret, shrinking back into himself.

"You... said it was a... secret..." she whispered.

"Uh, Wen... ders..." Jack asked, trying to put the two of them together. In his mind, he did not see any scenario of the two of them together.

"Wendy..." Morgan said calmly, reaching for her shoulders to rub them affectionately.

"I'm sorry that was... I really shouldn't have said that." Sandy scratched his chin as he turned his eyes back over the bracelet, no longer distracted by the news of the kiss between Wendy and Dylan. Blubbering, Wendy tore off into her room. Zeta stepped back, squeaking with her anxiety as her two best friends were in conflict. "Wendy, come back! Look, I'm sorry, I..." he charged after her, running into her room just before the door shut. The rest of Guardians, Cupid, Zeta, Elizabeth, and Nathan looked at her parents, wondering what to make of this. Jack was all set to head on in, but Morgan pulled on his hood to keep him from going.

"They need to figure this out for themselves, Jack," he told her.

"But he... he kissed her!"

"And she didn't get poisoned," Morgan said. "She's getting involved with the human world now, Jack, and she's getting older. You were the one who said we should let this happen."

"But boys? She's eleven, Wendy!"

"And I developed a crush on someone when I was eleven too, you know."

"Ah, well, she actually doesn't -" Cupid tried to interject, but there was no way he was going to get a word in edgewise about it.

"I don't have to like it."

"You should still respect their privacy," Morgan said, stroking his face. Jack looked up to Cupid, giving him that told you so look. Cupid made a face at Jack, obviously not pleased with him for doing as such. Sandy waved his arms frantically, spinning the tool he had found. It was a noise maker, a cranking noise sounding when Sandy spun it around. Eyes directed back to him and his cheeks grew fast with a grin while he presented images. First was a cross and a book.

"Christianity...?" Elizabeth guessed, trying to decipher it.

"No, stupid," Nathan insulted. "It's the book. It's the Bible."

"You calling me stupid?!" Elizabeth snarled, making to grab his arm. Swiftly, Jack pulled her away from her brother, standing between the two and keeping a firm arm on her. Zeta, in all her nervousness, hung close to Jack.

"The Bible?" Morgan said. "Why are we talking about the Bible?" Sandy's images changed and it displayed the number 39. "Okay, this is a really random string of events, Sandy... not making sense."

"He means the 39th book of the Bible," Jack said adamantly. "That would be Malachi."

"How... did you know that?"

"Uhh," Jack started with obvious facts. "Knowing the Bible well was sort of a requirement for the time I lived in, Morgs. I had all the books of the Bible memorized by the time I was seven."

"Ew," Morgan said. "Okay so what's so special with Malachi?"

"It sounds like a cool name?" asked Zeta, but then came another image of Sandy's. A diamond shaped object with a tail and it swayed on his picture. "Oh, that's a kite I think!"

"Malachi and kite?" Morgan said as she wrinkled her nose. "You lost me. Did the Bible have a great story about how Jesus saved Malachi's kite from getting stuck in the tree?"

"Jesus was New Testament, dear," he chuckled. "Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. You really don't know the Bible, do you? It's kind of an important thing to study if you're into history, even if you don't believe it."

"Shut up, show off."

"Malachi's kite! Malachite!" Zeta said, and Sandy gave her a small clap for her work. She curtsied before him politely. Then she gasped and said "Malachite is used in jewelry often and is green! Like Wendy's bracelet!"

"Why is that important?" Jack asked. Sandy raised his hand and began to flip through images really fast. Then they slowed down and he hung his head, realizing it was a little too complicated.

"Who gave her that bracelet anyway?" Morgan said to Zeta. She smiled and sucked in air – then her smile faded and she looked at the floor.

"No idea. Wendy was so transfixed by it, she didn't really seem to care."

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**Trying to find images for Sandy to tell them it was Malachite was really hard, and the only thing I know of Malachi is the book in the Bible. I haven't even read it to be honest, like at all, I just know seeing it at church one day and was like "That's a cool name." I'm excited to see where this goes. **

**I have a really busy next few days so it may be a while before you guys get the next chapter. Not more than a week, I promise. But It's like Stress season for me. Every year September is most stressful. September and December. Sigh.**

**What do you think is the deal with the bracelet? Let me know!**

**Good night guys! See you when I can! Mwah! Rosie out.**


	31. Dream Opener

**This chapter took WAY TOO LONG to FINALLY get typed.**

**Also I think I have met the smartest person in the entire world. She is my professor and you ask her anything about England or the Victorian period and she could go on for hours about it. Plus she is into paranormal stuff, loves stuff like Star Trek, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, she is a member of the Wikipedia staff and works with Google and oh my gosh this woman is amazing and I think she's nearing retirement. Anyways. Yeah. Onto story.**

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The door let out whining creak as it was opened by Jack, and Sandy came in behind him, floating gracefully into Wendy's bedroom. Softly, Wendy and Dylan were conversing , and she would pause on occasion to wipe her eyes. Wendy glanced up as the Guardian of Dreams made his way to hover over her, and he lifted the arm she wore the bracelet on. While he looked it over again, she raised her eyebrows and then looked sadly at her parents.  
"Now you know," she sighed with embarrassed regret.

"We're not here to make fun of you or scold you for kissing someone," Morgan told her calmly, as she stepped closer to her and turned her eyes towards sadness. Zeta wriggled her way through the two of them as they stood before their daughter, and then she looked nervously at her friends sitting solemnly on Wendy's covers. She stepped far back, anxiety growing her to be afraid of getting close in case their conflict was still going on and her stepping in would only make it worse. Her bushy red hair brushed into Jack's abdomen. Upon the notice that someone was blocking her way, she glanced up at his worry wrinkled face, and the sharp intensity of his frost toned hair falling in front of electric blue eyes. She looked at him with the fear swimming in her eyes, wondering what would happen now. To reassure her, Jack stroked her head, tousling its vibrant tresses. Her lips still quivered, but her face blossomed in pink from his touch. Cupid's obnoxious, delightful voice wafted through the doorway and he chuckled as he appeared behind everyone else, looking towards the two kids sitting on the bed.

"Aw, Wendy, you don't have to be so nervous, there's nothing wrong with experimenting a little-" His advice was caught short by his coughing, reacting to the sharp elbow which Morgan had jabbed up into his chiseled abs to stop his semi supportive speech. Jack smirked discreetly at her action. Sandy pointed to the bracelet.

"Okay, so the bracelet is malachite," Morgan commented, switching the conversation to something a little more important than interludes her daughter was involved in. "What does that mean? I mean, it's just a rock, right?" Wendy pulled her wrist down from Sandy's grip and turned it so she saw the glistening shimmer of the bright green rock, hypnotizing her from the effect of its sheen.

"Malachite?" Dylan said, arching his back so he also looked at the jewelry she was wearing. "Oh, yeah I see it. It's a carbonate mineral I think. It's hard to find them individually but you can usually find them in crevices and fractures underground or in areas of masses on stalagmites. It doesn't really look like that in its pure form. It's been laminated. It's a darker green normally." Wendy blinked rapidly while Zeta giggled, knowing full well he would know that type of thing.

"Oh... kayyy..." Wendy said in shock.

"What does that have to do with Wends, or Sandy?" Morgan said aloud. "The golden man waved his arms to attract attention. First, in the Dreamsand spiraling above his head, she showed an image of Wendy sleeping, with a smile on her face and a small dream bubble extending from her head, and he continued to point at the bracelet as the image spun over his head.

"The bracelet gives good dreams?" Cupid guessed, and Sandy silently gave him a clap.

"But I don't need good dreams!" Wendy shouted quickly. She was tensing up at the memory of all the "good dreams" and how the unrealistic images had depressed. The idea of anymore froze her with terror.

"This bracelet wasn't from you, Sandy?" Cupid asked, making a connection between the Guardian of Dreams and good dreams. The small and stout man shook his head fairly quickly, almost defiant in his answer.

"Wait," Morgan thought verbally as she read into how firmly he had said no. "Do you mean you would never give malachite for good dreams?" Sandy smiled and above his head, formed from the sand, was a caution sign. Then, he grew excited she was figuring it out and the pictures sped by in mere flashes. Everyone in the room was left lost as to what he was trying to say.

"Uh, thanks for uh, trying, Sandy," Jack said to him with a slight chuckle. "But maybe we should talk to someone who can understand." The pictures disappeared and Sandy rolled his glittering eyes, but shrugged.

"I think I know who we can talk to," Morgan said. "Linda is very educated in anything relating to fashion. If malachite is often used in jewelry, she may know something about it. Plus, in general she knows a lot about anything I don't, and has the strangest information sometimes."

"Fashionistas are going to save the world!" Cupid commented with zest. Jack turned to give the spirit of love a convulsing glare, while he looked at him with innocence.

"But," Morgan started, taking note of her daughter's fallen expression. "We'll do it tomorrow. Right now it's party time! And our focus is on my little Wenders. We still have a few games planned." Wendy glowed with exuberance at the notice of her mother and was gleeful to discover she was being though of. Cupid stepped forwards now and swung the girl into his arms to squeeze a hug out of her.

"And I'm sure the little heartbreaker would love to play Spin the Bottle-"

"No!" Jack and Morgan shouted, just and Wendy smiled wide.

"Sure! But... what is it? How do you play?" Wendy wondered, having no prior knowledge to the game, being away from the society of the world.

"Something you're not playing," Jack told her quickly as he reached to take her away from Cupid's arms. "Come on, Wendy. Your brother and sister are worried and want to make sure you're okay. I know, I'll have North prep the sleigh and I can create an ice coaster!"

"Whoa, hang on..." Morgan tried to say, but Jack had quickened his pace to leave the room, with a smirk on his mischievous face.

"Yeah!" Dylan shouted as he bolted on out of the room, and through the crowd that had gathered. Zeta giggled and went on after him. Cupid retreated the room, and Morgan made the action to leave, but Sandy stopped her when he drifted in front of the door, wearing a frown. Above his head, there was that image of Wendy sleeping again, but this one had an X over it, and he pointed at his own wrist.

"The bracelet?" Morgan said. "Don't let her sleep with it? But I thought it gave good dreams?" More images flashed by quickly as Sandy could not get everything he needed to say in just a few words. The bracelet, the Dreamsand, children sleeping, a storybook opening, people standing on the book...

"I... don't understand..." Morgan confessed and the apples of her cheeks blushed. He gave her a sympathetic grin and shook his head, telling her to not worry about it. Sandy kissed her cheek, leaving a small trace of the glittering substance on her face and then drifted into the other room to join the others.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're so rude, Jack," Linda scoffed as she twirled the beaded bracelet to give it a professional inspection. She was lounging on her couch in the evening. They had caught them after supper and Linda had sent her kids upstairs to their rooms to do their homework, and Ryan was on a business call in the other room. They had only recently just finishing checking on Mallory. She seemed okay, but had immediately thrown herself into homework. They were pretty sure she was plaguing herself with textbooks to distract her mind from everything in her life.

"Why am I rude?!" Jack asked in offended surprise, reclining on the chair in a way Morgan did not approve of because it was not a gentlemanly manner. She sent him daggers in her eyes to show her disapproval.

"You told Cupid he couldn't come here," she blurted at him. "You always keep us apart! It's tragic! I never ever get to see his sexalicious bod anymore."

"Listen to yourself," Jack murmured. "And you seriously wonder why I don't want you two around each other?"

"Oh it's jut a bit of fun!" Linda waved it away. ":So what if our fingers wander a little, our lips travel down each other's bodies, or our legs and arms entwine around each other's bodies in a fit of passion, naked and panting-"

"Okay!" Morgan shouted to interrupt her spoken fantasy. "That is _exactly_ what we're afraid of, Linda! And then poor Ryan!"

"Ryan doesn't believe in Cupid! Really, we could have a threesome and he would never know!... Hey...!"

"The bracelet, Linda!" Jack told her harshly as he forcibly took the jewelry from her and shoved it into her face. Linda yawned dramatically and rolled her eyes before she snatched it away from him.

"Okay, okay," she gave in annoyance. "Malachite is a brilliant emerald color and when its cut a certain way, it has multiple shades of green and it shines beautifully! It looks amazing against my skin tone! Pink is a really striking color against it, and you can wear a little bit of brown with it, but don't overdo it or you'll dilute the effect of the sharp green!" Jack smirked and looked at her with his twinkling eyes.

"That's great, now if I ever want to be a model I know exactly what to wear it with and what not," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "That's not what we're after, Linda!"

"Does it have anything to do with dreams?" Morgan said, jumping in the conversation from the other end of the couch. Linda pretended to try and kick her, getting on her nerves as she did and laughing loudly at her friend's irritation.

"Well," Linda thought. "I'm only slightly learned in the qualities of minerals and stones some people have come to believe in. The stuff I know, I have picked up from the fantasy novels I read. But I think there was one book..." As her mind ran through it, she tore out of the room and into the office that doubled as her small library, making noise as she rummaged around before she shouted that she had found it and emerged with a book of the Young Adult genre. It had the picture of a woman's head, and the back of it fading and merging into some creature with wings spread wide. "Here. I read this about four years ago, so it's been a while." She popped it open and leafed through its pages, flipping several times before she made a declaration of finding what she was searching for. She tapped the page to point it out. "This is where it describes what the dealio is. The story is about finding this brilliant green stone, described in the same way I think malachite is in its true form when they were gallivanting through the caves. They never say what it really is, just call it the Dream Opener, but it has striking similarities to malachite. Originally it's picked up because it's shiny and we like shiny things because they're pretty, and they think it could possibly be worth some money, or if it isn't, trick someone into thinking it is. Then they discover the fortune it brings and that begins the plot."

"It's a book!" Morgan groaned tiredly. "It's fictitious, it's not going to help us if it's not real!"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Make Believe, but I do believe you aren't supposed to exist and yet you're here," Linda snarkily replied to her. "And whatever happened to 'there is truth in fiction?' Besides, since the Guardians happened and that tale of Hades and Persephone-" Morgan retched a little into her mouth at the memory. "Uh, ew, Morgs. Since all of that turned out to be true, I've kind of just been bearing in mind and looking at every novel and movie as potentially being skewed truth." Morgan fumed at her annoyance of being made a fool of while Linda giggled at her misery. She straightened her back as she displayed her boast. Jack threw a look to his wife, laughter playing in his eyes with Linda's comment to call her out. She winked at him, sharing in their mischief to make Morgan miserable.

"What does this book say?" Morgan grumbled impatiently while Linda continued to glow. Her eyes drifted back to the book.

"Well, throughout it, the uses of the stone become revealed slowly. They keep it with them as they sleep, guarding it under their pillow. After a few nights, the one guarding it starts getting vivid dreams and after a couple of weeks, the dreams in the story become real."

"Become real?" Jack repeated for clarification. Morgan scowled at the ground with thought. "So this malachite... if you use it to an extent, sleep with it, it makes your dreams real?" Linda toddled her hand to signify she was unsure.

"Maybe," she said. "I honestly don't really know how much of this true, or if its even malachite. Maybe it's not malachite and the whole thing is made up. Or maybe it is malachite and this is true that people believe it does it, but it actually doesn't. For the last twenty years, understanding what's real and what's not is becoming a little vague. Even The Truthful One over here doesn't even know anymore." Morgan blushed with her observation.

"When you're married to an imaginary figure-" she began.

"When you _are_ an imaginary figure," Linda corrected.

"Shut up."

"Okay, let's say all of this is true," Jack said as he took the book. "Why did Sandy tell Morgan to _not_ let Wendy sleep with it? I mean this certainly sounds like what we know of malachite, and Sandy made it sound like it does have certain magical properties. Why is it so bad? So all of her dreams come true. That's what we want, right?"

"Except that would make her a bit spoiled wouldn't it? Believing that she can get anything she wants, and then she wouldn't learn to be grateful," Morgan spoke, from a motherly perspective.

"That's a very good point," Linda praised, and she took the book back from Jack. "But that's not the problems presented in the book."

"What are the problems?" Jack asked. Linda flipped through a good chunk of the book and held it out for him to see.

"Many people start excavating for the stone, and the enemies get a hold of it. Their dreams are good, but only good to them. They wish to conquer their enemy, an turn their people to slaves. Soon, all these good dreams are coming true and start battling against each other, and war breaks out, and it turns bad. Think about it. What if you gave it to someone who was bloodthirsty and desired to harm people and get away with it? They might want to dream about hurting people and then they do and they get away with it. Or they dream about life without a person in the world. The person dies."

"But that's not Wendy," Morgan said. "She's not like, and she's just one person."

"She wouldn't, of course not, but what if she dreamt about something that seems to be innocent, and it has to come about by making something tragic?"

"How would that happen with Wendy?" Jack said, confused by the idea of anything horrible ever happening because of her.

"Okay, but what about the Dream Battles?"

"Only Wendy is going to use it!"

"How do you know she won't share it!" Linda said with agitated aggression. "Sandy told you _not_ to let you! So don't! He knows more about dreams than anyone else!"

"Oh my God," Morgan whispered, interrupting their little altercation. The two both whipped their heads around to look at Morgan who was holding her chin in her hands and shaking her head slowly.

"What?" they both asked.

"This has to all be true. Is has to. I don't think a single thing about what that book says about the stone is wrong."

"Uhh... why?" Jack asked slowly.

"Because Jack," she nearly laughed. "Imagination is literally creating the reality."

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**I really hope the next chapter doesn't take me a week to get up. Sorry guys, I've been working SO MUCH and LIFE SUCKS. Good night, see you hopefully within a couple of days!**


	32. Awakened

**Writing chapters for this story is getting easier now that I sit and write my ideas in my notebook in classes that I find super boring. Once I have the chapters written in my notebook, I find I can get these chapters up pretty quick. Here begins the usage of the Malachite. I wonder if any of you know where I am going with this.**

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"If you're so curious, why not just sleep with it?" Nathan suggested to Wendy. During the last two weeks, the adults of the world seemed to fall back into their depressive states, so the Guardians were back out searching for Pitch across the globe. Wendy had been left to stay with her siblings at their place. She was just getting used to having her parents around more often and suddenly they were dropping her off once again, leaving her behind. She enjoyed time with her siblings and loved Elizabeth, but the first sign of danger and they were off. Wendy felt incredibly forgotten about, sitting in the tent that had been pitched an hour ago. Elizabeth threw down an _Uno_ card, but Wendy was only half paying attention to their game. Nathan was playing with the switch on their flashlight threatening to wear its batteries out.

"Mom said not too," Wendy muttered, realizing they were waiting for her to play something on the red eight that had just been laid. She tossed aside the first card she had on top of the pile.

"You can't play a yellow two," Nathan reminded her. She shook her head and took it back, before placing her red five.

"Who cares?" Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes at how nervous her sister was about breaking the rules. "If you want to do, just do it! Just one time won't hurt, right?"

"But Sandy was very adamant about making sure I didn't use it," she stated. "And he knows dreams. Why would I go against what he wants?"

"I fail to understand what misfortune it would bring you," Nathan said, moving his glasses to rub his tired eyes. "I mean true. If everything Aunt Linda said is true, I can understand that. It shouldn't fall into the hands of someone who is evil. But you're the child of Guardians, isn't it like instant death through some binding contract if you commit some evil deed? And you're one person."

"And you can just do it once!"

"But, Mom said the book stated it was through continued use the dreams came true."

"I think it would be wrong to not at least test it out," said Nathan. "How often has Mom told us to use our imaginations frequently and wildly because it will create our own truths? Isn't this doing exactly that?"

"Who knows?" Elizabeth laughing, throwing down a card that skipped Nathan so he groaned and waited impatiently for Wendy to start paying attention so she could go. "You know how all those fairy tales talk about dreams coming true? Well maybe this is why! Malachite is used in jewelry a lot and if they used it back then, they might have also used it in hairpins, so hey slept with them in. Masterpiece hairstyles they needed to have last for a long time so they used to go several days sleeping in them. It would make sense." The two of them stared at him with a little bit of disturbed awe radiating from their faces. Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, so I listen to mom when they talk sometimes."

"Obviously you want to," Nathan said, knocking on the floor to get her attention and persuade her to go. "You already broke into your parents' room to take it from the hidden compartment in Mom's vanity set."

"I just wish I knew where it came from," Wendy sighed, throwing another card down and then realizing there was only one card left in her hand. "Oh, Uno." As Nathan squirmed in protest and Elizabeth scoffed, Wendy turned towards her bag and then snatched it away from the entrance. She shifted around the contents and took the green bracelet from its hiding place before slipping it onto her wrist. She laughed and then waved her arm around, to prove she was actually going to do it tonight. Licorice jumped forward and sniffed the green trinket, whining almost as if he was concerned for what would happen to her. Wendy pushed his face away, laughing. "Oh Licorice, it will be okay! If there's something bad with this bracelet, I'll stop, I promise."

"Awesome! Now let's hear a ghost story!" Elizabeth declared, pushing aside the cards and taking the flashlight from Nathan.

"Uhhh, I don't want to hear a ghost story," Wendy muttered nervously.

"They're not real!" Nathan sputtered. Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"You're really going to say that? After how many things that aren't real turned out to be true? I just accept everything as possibly being real unless being told otherwise, and because of mom, I am discovering that more of fiction is real that people think it is and more of history is made up than people think it is. I'll trust the tall tales, thank you."

"But you're protected by Guardians!"

"Which is exactly why it shouldn't be weird that I believe in ghosts."

"No, that's why you shouldn't let your fear get a hold of you," Elizabeth said.

"Exactly!" Nathan laughed. "So, Bess, don't let your fear of dating get a hold of your and let Jacob know how you – ow!" Elizabeth had slammed her knuckles into his arm and prevented him from speaking anymore on the subject manner. Wendy had no more arguments and sighed, pulling her knees to her chest as Elizabeth started on her eerie story. Wendy clutched the beads on her bracelet tight, hoping it would work as it was supposed to work and maybe even better.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The air thick with the smell of warm chocolate and batter filled the room and Wendy found herself rising to it. Its welcoming scent was bringing her out of her dream, where a stack of chocolate chip pancakes had awaited her. Wendy gladly scurried out of the tent and walked in a dazed pace towards the kitchen. Hamilton placed five stacked pancakes in front of an empty seat and Wendy's mouth began to drip with saliva as the aroma got into her mouth and tickled her appetite. Nathan and Elizabeth both looked up to her with wondering eyes, expecting some sort of response from her.

"I dreamt about chocolate chip pancakes," she whispered gleefully to them.

"I wondered," Elizabeth agreed. "He never lets us have chocolate for breakfast." Wendy smiled, but then frowned when she realized the similarities between their mother and Hamilton. Her mother didn't like her having frosting for breakfast, and he didn't like them having chocolate. They weren't too big on dessert items for breakfast. It was just another reminder of the marriage they had previously and how well they must have fit together. It worried her a little bit.

"Are you saying this is due to the bracelet?" Wendy piped up, eyes growing in wonderment that it was because of the little stone.

"Could be."

"But it's just... pancakes..." she sighed, looking at the delicious mess before her that waited to be chomped on. "My dreams are so much bigger..."

"Maybe they'll get bigger with continued use," Nathan said, shoveling half a pancake into his throat. "Ah min, eh sa ca tenerd oos."

"Gross," Elizabeth spat. "But you're right. With continued use, you might be able to get bigger dreams to come true."

"So I should use it again?" Elizabeth's cheek filled with her smile before her mouth attacked her food. Wendy turned over the bracelet and breathed through her grin. She remembered Sandy's warnings, and Linda's book's details, but she figured she would be able to stop anytime she felt any danger coming and began to chew happily on what her dream had birthed for her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A week of sleeping with the bracelet hadn't made any more dreams come forth, but they had improved. They were becoming incredibly more vivid and didn't quite have things in them that depressed her afterwards. One night she dreamt about entering a world full of cats. Another night, she could almost taste the fruit she had picked from a tree, and rolling the sweet bit of pear in her mouth. Then she had a dream about her playing Frisbee with Zeta and Dylan in the park in the warm summer months. Then her dreams gave her magical powers and she learned how to fly. Soon, she could read minds, and then she began to explore a cave and jumped out of dangerous traps, like she was Indiana Jones. They were exciting, fun dreams, and she was a lot peppier when Morgan was delivering her lessons.

Of course, in the morning, Wendy slipped off the bracelet and hit it between her box spring and her mattress. She hadn't wanted her parents to know she had even taken it, much less was using it. She knew it would be a long time, years in fact, before they discovered it was missing. Morgan never used her vanity table – just the mirror. She never needed to use make up anymore as she never did anything anymore that would warrant a face made up, but she kept it around but it was historically designed. That morning, she had had a dream her mother would cancel her lessons and let her just go outside and hang out with her dog. Then she snorted. She was more likely to live in Pennsylvania with her siblings and friends before that happened.

Wendy clapped for herself when she received the score of 93 for her most recent math test. It had been a while since she had something like that and Jack clapped for her.

"You're improving!" he praised just as Wendy eagerly flipped open a book about the French Revolution.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said. "Elizabeth helped with it." And even though it was true, she knew most of the credit of her success was due to the malachite. Her good dreams were putting her in a much better mood. With her peppiness, it wasn't so hard to sit through lessons. Eventually, she was hoping the legends would remain true and dreams would start becoming true.

"We're going to review the storming of the Bastille," Morgan said, looking over the sheets of paper in front of her that ere scrawled with notes.

"That happened on July 14th, 1989," Wendy stated. Jack coughed from where he was in the living room, brushing Licorice's fur. He turned to look at his daughter, and Morgan gaped at her correct answer. She laughed and bobbed her head. Even the dog appear shocked, but he could have been wearing the fact because he was upset he wasn't being brushed anymore.

"Wow, um... that was right," Morgan said, not at all trying to hide the smile that was overcoming her face at that moment. "Well, we're going to... talk about the preparation for the constitution then!"

"Is this the revolution that King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded in?" Jack and Morgan both exchanged looks. Arguably the most famous king and queen of France being beheaded wasn't exactly an unknown thing, but it wasn't something either one of them had gone over with Wendy yet and she was a bit young for the average person to know it was the French Revolution they were beheaded in, and Wendy knew nothing about the French Revolution, or so they thought. She shrugged and then laughed, enthused by their reactions

"Yes, it... was..." Jack said, rising from the couch and abandoning the task of brushing Licorice, who whimpered sadly. "It made international news, I remembering reading the papers and seeing that the King and Queen of France were dead."

"What was it like?" Morgan asked, opening her notebook and preparing to take notebooks. Morgan shifted her chair and listened to his story intently. Of course, she had already pumped Jack of every single bit of history she could get out of him, but she was more than happy to listen to repeats. It was fascinating to hear about a firsthand account of history.

Morgan glowed as he talked, eyes tracing him as he moved and pursing her lips and she held back her desire for him. When he gave his accounts of history and the changing world through his eyes, she found him irresistible. As his mouth unleashed everything he kept away in his memory about things Morgan had only ever read about, he spoke and moved his hands with passion and illustration. Her body quivered as he weaved his way through the accounts and her hands shook from the magnetism of him as he drew her in. She recalled the sexiness of his smirk and the seductive movements of his slender legs as he spoke in front of them, Wendy furiously moving her pencil across the page. Morgan curled her fingers around the edge of her chair so as to glue herself in place. If Wendy was not right there, she would have ripped off every article of him and pinned him on the floor, no time to drag him to the bedroom of course. Her skin was burning with the desire to be felt and areas of her body had growing hungers that needed to be fulfilled.

She let her mind wander to Wendy, trying to tune out Jack's words so she wasn't so tempted to jump him right in front of her daughter. She was watching her father with an excitement never before seen with history. Wendy had always despised history, yet here she was, scribbling notes of everything Jack was telling her. Focusing on just her, a grin found her face and she had to keep squeezing the tears out of her eyes. For years, she had been trying so hard to impart the same passion she had for history into her daughter, even though she knew and truly believed you should never make yours kids like what you like. But history was something she felt was important to know to understand the world now and why things were the way they were, even the things that didn't make sense. Now, she was taking interest, and Morgan could feel herself getting lighter with her bursting of pride. It was a genuine smile she wore, and the color to her cheeks was real. She was excited, she was full, she was happy. Jack was getting into the heavy part of his story and his expressions matched each event. Morgan always loved her family, but at the point she kept saying it over and over. In her mind, she was counting her blessings and thanking everything in the world for giving her these people in her life.

"But why was Marie Antoinette hated so much?" Wendy asked, and Morgan had an itch to contribute to the excitement, to be the one to teach her daughter something. So before Jack could impart his knowledge, she was already speaking.

"They thought she was spending a lot of money on useless stuff, and completely throwing stuff away," Morgan said. "And they also thought she was a spy for Austria."

"Was it true?"

"No!"

"And they never thought to investigate and find out if it was true."

"They had the spirit of revolution in them and were guillotine happy," Jack said lightly.

"Wendy, by this point, you should know that sometimes people just don't care about justice," she told her kindly.

"It's just stupid," she huffed, and Morgan tapped her hand.

"I know, I feel this way about history all the time! It makes me so happy, sad, angry... I don't know if I've ever felt so strongly about anything in my entirely, except for my family."

"So that's why you married Dad! He's old!" Wendy observed, and Jack dropped his expressive hands, looking at the two girls as they shared a laugh.

"Just because my hair is white..." he groaned, but smirked through it all. "Yeah I think your mother definitely is attracted to my old world charm."

"And new world annoyance," Morgan teased, still buzzing from the jolt of desire she had to rip him away to their bed. "You know, Wendy, what if you take off from lessons today? Take Licorice and go visit North in the shop."

"But you never let me skip lessons unless I'm on my death bed!" she protested, and then gasped when she remembered the dream she had had.

"Well, it seems like you're doing your readings," she smiled. "And you deserve a reward." Wendy mouthed words of shock and then launched from her chair, hurrying to get her winter gear and Licorice barking in excitement. She pulled her boots on and wrapped herself up in her lime green parka, and then called for her dog to come out. Before she ran outside she sprinted towards her mother and caught her in suffocating grip, burying her face into her stomach and whispering several hundred thank yous. Morgan stroked her daughter's head and told her to have fun.

"Take all the time you need!" she said, and then winked at Jack, who raised his eyebrow unbeknownst to Wendy. Their daughter then jumped out the door, making sure to slam it. As soon as she was out of site and beyond the white washed hills through their windows, Jack grabbed Morgan's wrist and was jerking her in the direction of the bedroom.

"Wow, you understood my message..." she giggled girlishly as he flung her onto the bed.

"Morgan, you always squirm in a special way when I talk about history," he informed as he swung himself over her. His breathe was creating ice patterns across her neck and down into her cleavage. She shuddered under the shock of pleasure it created. "I can read it very well."

"I wonder what's gotten into her."

"Can we discuss that later?" he said impatiently as Morgan lifted her arms for him to remove her top layer. He obliged quickly and soon his fingers were moving across her shoulders and around her stomach. "Right now, I am addressing the Guardian of Make Believe and I have a few fantasies I would like to make come true." He put his arms around the small of her back and lifted her up, legs still twined around her body. Morgan gasped at the intensity of the pulse coursing through her and her eyes fluttered with her ecstasy when the ice of his lips traced around her collarbone and began to make its way south.

"Let's cancel lessons more often," he moaned before his mouth had fit back into her kiss.

"Mmm..." she muttered, and decided to forget all about the mystery of Wendy's sudden happiness to involve herself in her own.

* * *

**If anyone wants to challenge me on the Marie Antoinette stuff they can. I admit, I know very little and the French Revolution is A LOT to sift through. I just know that apparently she was wrongly accused of that stuff. Whether or not she was actually a good Queen and good to her people I don't know (I do know she never said 'Let them eat cake' that was a mis translation and she actually said something about them eating the crumbs off the floor? Which I know still sounds mean but 'let them eat cake' is even worse because they can't get something as extravagant as cake.) I am not Morgan so I do not know this stuff.**

**It is 11:45 at night, and did my roommate just growl in her sleep? *stares at ceiling***

**It doesn't really matter, but I do have a slight interest in the Storming of the Bastille simply because my hotel when I went to Paris (which is honestly my favorite city in the whole wide world despite how much I love England. Sorry, London. :( ) was right across the street from where the Bastille was located. Now there's like a column in memorial to it. It was pretty cool to wake up every morning and see it outside my window. There's also an opera house there too but it's... blergh. I much prefer the Opera Garnier in Paris. So much more amazing.**

**Also my roommates and I had a coloring party. With coloring books. It was amazing.**

**There's a grocery store in my town that carries crumpets. I am so excited!**

**Okay I suppose I should go get some homework done. See ya when I can! Rosie out!**


	33. Sentimental Value

**I had one of those days were I got so much done and that excites me to no end. Finally, after spending several days working on this chapter I got it done! This was a... complicated weekend so to speak so I'm sorry it took a while. **

* * *

Soft mutters of disappointment rang through the windows as another couple began to discuss their options of their eventual separation. Morgan shut her eyes, trying to drown out the tones and the words of the couple. It caused a great blow to her whenever she encountered these situations. As much as she tried to tell herself it was one of the safer ones; no one was getting beaten or violated or mistreated in anyway – she still had difficulties with it. A marriage was ending, and they weren't even angry. They have given up so long ago already, they were past yelling at each other and just wanting to be done with it.

"You have positions?" North instructed. Their orders were not to chase after Pitch. Now they were just trying to reestablish life in people, to win back everything they filled them with zest. The Guardians nodded and waited to enter the house.

Everyone watched the husband drag his feet on his way out the door and presumably downstairs to sleep on the couch. The woman rubbed her face to relieve her emotions and then turned her body to slip under the covers. She turned away and then her breathing slowed as her body entered a deeper stage of sleep. North nodded to Bunny and he saluted to the large man in red. Twice, the rabbit's foot tapped the ground and it opened up. The Guardians all jumped in, with Bunny taking up the end, and followed the short mossy dirt into the bedroom, tumbling out of the top of the tunnel. North directed Tooth and Jack down the stairs while he followed them. Sandman, Bunny, and Morgan remained in the bedroom as they attempted to work their magic.

"All right," Bunny said. "Let's get some happiness in their lives, eh?" Bunny opened a small pouch on the front of the leather strap that swung over his chest. Morgan had seen the weapons he carried on them – egg bombs holsters in the back to hold his boomerangs – but never before had she ever seen the small pocket on the edge, often hidden by the muscle and fur that made up his arms. From the pocket he produced a pinch of yellow dust. It clumped in his fur and left yellow streaks but still retained its form of a fine powder. She raised her eyebrows, watching him carefully. Bunny held out his paw over the sleeping woman. It was so interesting to watch the burly rabbit work; he was large and stocky and he just had the presence of warrior spirit, reinforced by the gear he wore. However, there was a gentleness to him that Morgan was happily able to see often, but it still surprised her when she did. The greens of his eyes watched the sleeping female with concern, fur turning into the wrinkles caused by his stress. Still, as he always seemed to, Bunnymund had a thin lining of hope that kept that bright glimmer to the way he watched her. Morgan breathed, fascinated by how the Easter Bunny worked. Softly, he blew the yellow dust into the eyes of the young woman. Her eyelashes fluttered when the yellow dust caught them, but then it vanished quickly. Her nose wrinkled, and she shifted her arms. For a second, Morgan went through an entire argument with herself. She panicked and thought about how they should probably hide, as she appeared to be waking up, then Morgan remembered they were invisible and it wouldn't matter. But the argument ended as the woman settled back into her bed, far more than fast asleep. She sunk deeper into her pillow and clutch it to herself, a smile spread out across her face.

"I've never... seen you do that..." she confessed with a pinch of guilt. Bunny chuckled lightly and jokingly wiped the yellow residue across the sheer fabric of Morgan's sleeves. She rolled her eyes at his playful action.

"It's never been so dire that all of us had to enter a house together," he explained.

"What is it? Sulfur?"

"Pollen," he corrected. The smile on the woman's face got bigger yet, to the point of near bliss. "From Easter Lilies."

"Is that... what gives them hope?"

"One of the ways," he answered. "Or, it doesn't give them hope, but helps to reawaken it. It's only temporary of course, they have to choose to invest in their hope. We can only ever help people, Morgs, remember that." Morgan tightened her grip on her Hosta plant, knowing how her abilities were never permanent. They only ever helped people in times of need.

"Aren't a lot of people allergic to pollen?" Morgan questioned and Bunny nodded with a grin. It was clear to her that he had known she would ask such a question.

"It's hypoallergenic. Easter Lilies from the Warren don't irritate allergies. And only from the Warren."

"Huh," said Morgan as Sandman floated towards them, a goofy smile overtaking his face. He lifted his hands and willed thin ribbons of the golden dust to surround the head of the sleeping woman. They took the forms of hearts and a man spinning a woman around, providing her dreams of times gone past. Bunny placed his padded paw into the small of her back, gesturing her forwards.

"But, she already has good dreams right now," she said to them hesitantly. "Why do I need to tap into her imagination?"

"She's dreamin' about times gone past," Bunny said. "She's remembering. This particular woman is only going to dwell on the memories and not see them as reminders to why she loves him, but rather as reminders of something good lost. 'Snot how she works. She needs to see the potential for future happiness, and in order for that to happen she needs to imagine it can. And that's why we need you." Sandy nodded and gave her a thumbs up for encouragement. Morgan smiled at him as his portly body hovered around the room and she took forwards, leaning the bell of the Hosta flower over the woman. A drop of dew splashed onto the woman's face and then disappeared into her skin. She sighed and then flopped over to the other side of the bed. Morgan yelped and jumped back. In the pictures there were two kids playing with the man and the woman. The kids got older, the parents got older. There were scenes of graduations, weddings, and soon more babies.

"Good on you," Bunny told her, taking her into a hug that was always far warmer than others she would ever have, due to the thick fur. "Once we build on this couple and make them believe this can work, then Cupid can fly right in and remind them why they love each other."

Downstairs, the husband had wrapped several blankets around him, distressed face pushed against a throw pillow. It had been misshapen from the frequent uses of it being a pillow to rest his head rather than an arm. Tooth hovered over the man, clicking her tongue in sadness at how strained he looked.

"I just hate it when someone forces their significant other from their bed," she lamented. "That's always when seperation is just becoming clear. Plus, just the simple act of forcing them away from their bed..."

"Really?" Jack scoffed, eying her with suspicion. "You still make jokes about the time Morgan kicked me out of the bed."

"That's because the heater broke in the middle of winter and we spent three days trying to fix it," Tooth reminded as she produced a small golden box from under her arm. "That had nothing to do with problems you or Morgan had. It had to do with keeping everyone warm."

"Still doesn't change the fact I was sent away from my bed..."

"A bed you don't actually need," she sang cheerfully to him. "If you and Morgan weren't so... ahem... active, you wouldn't even have one."

"I really hate how casual everyone makes my love life..." Jack moaned in embarrassment.

"Close proximities..." Tooth explained and then pressed her slender fingers into the blue diamonds on the top of the box. The blue diamond glowed ethereally and she placed the box in the man's hand as it rested on the pillow. He breathed in deeply and then it evened out. The rise and fall of his back mellowed and the wrinkles of strain on his face softened with the memories that were playing through his mind. Tooth clasped her hands together in satisfaction and her wings beat excitedly at his positive reactions to the memories he recalled. She drifted to the side and North stepped forwards. From the insides of his thick jacket, he produced a strange of bells. Jack snickered at the size of them, looking so small in his hands, but North either did not notice or care. He held the small bells before the man's head and shook them. The light jingling was not ordinary. It had the similar tone to that of regular sleigh bells shaking in time, but these bells sang in jingling tremors, backed by an angelic echo. Jack's blues widened at the pleasant sound, and his mouth fell open at the effect it was having on him. There were very few times in his life he had heard sounds as wonderful as those bells; the first time he heard Wendy laugh was among these sounds, and Morgan's own giggles.

The man turned and placed his bulky hands down the couch gently, and arched his neck as he took on what were most likely wonderful memories. North used his hand to present the man to Jack, waiting for him to take on his responsibilities as Guardian. Jack grinned, happy to be a part of this. From the palm of his hand, created a snow flake and pushed it up and away, til it fell and floated to the tip of the man's nose. It disappeared when it hit his nose and he made a noise of welcome surprise. In his sleep, he laughed and hugged the air in front of him. North chuckled and his thick fingers conquered Jack's shoulder when he offered a touch. Jack beamed with pride.

"Our work is done," North said. "We find new house!" Jack laughed and turned to make his way around the table, but then the emerald glimmer of something on the table caught his eye. Just as Toothiana and North were making their way back up the steps to collect the others, he stopped himself. He curiously let his eyes fall across the contents of the table, taking note of the small black lamp, and its neighbor, the tissue box. He rolled his eyes at the article presented on the front of the TV guide, that promised a startling revelation to some overrated show that taught bad morals, presented terrible stereotypes, and therefore was incredibly addicting. He reached across the table to the far corner and picked up the silver watch the man had on earlier. The time ticked away on its shimmering bright green face and Jack turned it over to see an inscription on the back, a promise to love him forever. He frowned.

"I really hope that will be the case," he said, setting the watch down.

"Jack!" Tooth called. Jack placed the watch down and hurried to catch up with them. The found the other three, sitting at the window and waiting to go. The woman was smiling in her sleep so she looked ten years younger. She held her pillow tight and Jack glowed seeing her in such a good slumber.

"Do you ever wonder why you didn't want to be a Guardian?" Morgan asked, sidling up beside him and intertwining her fingers with his. He laughed and his gaze fell back on the woman.

"Yeah," he answered as he watched her. "Yeah I do. I can't imagine being anything else."

"Maybe in a week," Bunny began when he picked up the small wedding ring from the corner table near the woman's bed. He turned it over and inspected it thoughtfully. "This ring will be back on the sheila's finger already."

"Yeah, maybe," Tooth agreed, hovering near him.

"Morgan, is it typical of jewelry companies to place gems or diamonds inside the band?" Bunny wondered.

"I guess," she shrugged. "I know Leo Diamond does. On the inside of the band, it says Leo and the O is a small diamond. It's pointless and just another reason to jack up their prices."

"Well this isn't a diamond... it's like an Emerald or somethin'..."

"Maybe she was born in May, or maybe he was even born in May. You know how people like to engrave their rings," she said, a little annoyed he was bringing up such an unimportant detail. "Who knows?" Bunny set the ring back on the table, looking at it strangely before he followed the rest of the group into the sliver of rose as dawn crept into the night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The whispers of her parents were so harsh it would have been a miracle to stay asleep through all their noise. Someone bumped into something and Jack struggled to keep himself from laughing. Wendy rolled her eyes at how delightful they sounded, trying not to imagine how they were probably all curled up together on the couch and complimenting each other in ways she did not want to know about. She yawned and then felt a subtle pressure against the bed before heard the tinkle of metal from a dog collar.

"Licorice!" she greeted quietly and wrenched her body around to look at the beast of a dog sitting loyally before her feet. "I had this really strange but really cool dream about you! I dream about fur on your face! Well, that sounds silly now doesn't it! You already have fur on your face, but this was different this looked more like that time Hamilton decided..." and then Wendy observed the thick collection of fur formed just above the parting through Licorice's mouth. It wasn't just matted fur. It was actually a bush of fur that had taken form of something similar to wings, fanning out over his mouth. She placed her hands together and jumped forwards, throwing her arms around his neck. "Look at you, you gentleman! You have a mustache, don't you?! You know, Mom has a thing for mustaches, if they are done right. Manicured, small, and dainty. She says they have an old world quaintness, and I think she may be right! I see in a lot of pictures in history books, important guys in history have cool mustaches, and many of them were real gentleman! I think that's what you have become, Licorice! You have a mustache! Next thing you know, you'll be wearing tailcoats, a top hat, and be walking with an umbrella!" She laughed and ran her fingers where the mustache seemed to be and giggled at the fuzzy feeling it gave her. The noises of Jack and Morgan rang through the hall and she pulled her dog under the covers.

"Shh! We mustn't let them see us!" she joked, and the dog decided to respond by lapping up her face. He whimpered and rested his chin against the green beads that wound their way around her wrist. Wendy rolled her eyes. "Everyone is doing that, but it's no big deal! It gave you a mustache, right? That was the dream I had last night, and I think it makes you look incredibly distinguished!" The dog tilted its head, unsure of what she was saying. Wendy laughed and stroked his head, while Licorice gnawed at the powerful bracelet she refused to take off.

* * *

**The thing about the Leo Diamond is true and I never understood it? I mean why? It's just an extra diamond no one is going to see, it adds on price for no reason at all, and all because the name Leo looks cool the diamond as an O.**

**With that, I am swaying with fatigue so I will go now! See ya next time! Rosie, passing out.**


	34. Heated Dreams

**Hey everyone guess what day it is! October 3rd! It's Morgan's birthday! And, interestingly enough, the temperature really dropped tonight! You all know what that means!**

**So tomorrow I begin the lesson plan I am teaching at school and it's a big project so I am a bit nervous. Notes of encouragement?**

* * *

The Easter Bunny tugged on Morgan's hands as he pulled her up out of the tunnel he had formed to enter the room of the newest receiver of the Guardians' gifts. The cold months were turning into warm and Jack had almost completely weaned off of the cold snaps and the snowfalls as Spring set in. Morgan had begun her rounds, leaving many mornings foggy and speckling the green earth with glittering water drops. On one of her rounds, she had overheard a conversation with a young teenage girl, expressing concern for her brother to a friend by the sounds of it. Yet, the girl had been too concerned to do anything, which in all honesty had made no sense to Morgan. Recognizing the symptoms of having lost interest in everything he used to love, asking people if they had wanted certain items he was trying to give away, and the refusal to make any long term plans, Morgan had shot off immediately, abandoning her current task to tell Jack what she had overheard. With the incident where Linda had nearly taken her life many years ago at the forefront of both their minds, they approached North. Soon, they were out at night, worrying tightening in their throats at how bad this kid could be.

Morgan dusted the dirt from the tunnels off her cream colored leggings and then accepted Bunny's paw to help her up. Bunny wrinkled his nose, looking around at the surroundings of the bedroom they found themselves in.

"Morgan, you are sure this boy is in trouble?" North asked again.

"I can't say I know for sure," Morgan told him, voice shuddering with the thickness of her concern. "But I can tell you, I afraid of the potential. It's better to check it out, isn't it?" The door gave a creak as it was casually pushed open by a boy on the cusp of teen years and adulthood. He was incredibly lanky, and his blonde hair was plastered against his head with its amount of grease, but other than that the boy appeared very ordinary. He moved at a sluggish pace, just as teenagers tended to do, dressed in clothes that were nothing special, and looking incredibly bored. For a moment, the Guardians scrambled to not be seen – before they realized they couldn't be seen by a boy just leaving his teenage stage. He took to his bed, slamming his body into the mattress before he extended his arm to swipe the small sketchpad from the edge of the table. His fingers slapped the filled pages away before he located an empty one, and he plucked his pencil from the cup that sat near his lamp. Furiously, the end of his pencil moved and Sandman drifted behind him. As he drew, Sandy's frown grew bigger, and he looked over at his companions with sadness darkening his eyes. Tooth took the initiative then, to buzz on over to look a the picture. Her slender hands flew up to her mouth and the fuchsia irises seemed to grow smaller with the dilation of her pupils. Automatically, the others felt a need to see the picture. Morgan craned her neck, and wrinkled her mouth at his drawing, but more with curious fascination rather than disturbance. It was in its early stagings, still just lines to form the characters in their positions. However, there was a figure that seemed to be being made into a female, and there was another character before that one that seemed to be a male, kneeling before the possible female with the makings of a bouquet in his hand. Off to the side was a stick figure, sprawled out onto the ground and holding something that looked like a wound in the chest.

"Hmm," North thought when he saw the picture. "This not normal." Morgan tossed a glare over to him.

"I think ya made the right call, mate," Bunny nodded.

"Because of that?" Morgan scoffed. "That's what convinced you?" Jack looked between his wife and the Guardians with anxiety. "No, we need something else. I heard this guy's sister talk about things he's doing that might end up resulting in..." She stopped her speech, eyes already watering at the word that was rising to her lips. The other Guardians looked to her to turn something up. She jumped around the room, glancing at the various items of pennants and movie posters and picture frames – most of which consisted of him with his sister, whom she had seen earlier. Her eyes wandered, finding nothing but evidence of an average boy's room. On a bulletin board, she spied a handwritten note, with a heart on it. The writing was childish and the paper was yellowing, as if it had been years since it was first written. On the note it said "You're stupid and no one will ever love you. Happy Valentine's Day." Morgan winced at the message before she looked at the boy. She frowned with the confusion as to why he would keep something so painful after so many years. She turned back to the note, reading the name of Electra on it. She raised her eyebrows at that unique name with suspicious manner.

The young man fled from his bed again and ran out the door, slamming it behind him. Within a matter of minutes, there was yelling from a woman and a man downstairs. No words could be made out, but the barrage of words flung with the backing of violent aggression only told them this kid was living in an incredibly unhealthy house. Morgan swallowed harshly. Tooth gasped and shook her head with horror. Sandy shut his eyes and covered his ears. Bunny instinctively gripped his boomerangs while his chest heaved with desperation on what to do. North recoiled, and Jack leaned against his staff to maintain his balance.

"We're needed here no matter what is going on," Morgan told them and then took the opportunity to rummage through yearbooks on the shelf. She had an inkling about what was happening and thought she may be able to find what she needed in his yearbooks. She noticed there were three, instead of four. There was not a yearbook for that year, and she thought he was probably a Senior in high school. Jack stole to her side just as she flipped through the three, looking at the signatures and surprised to discover that she, unpopular Morgan, had actually had more written statements in her yearbooks than this kid did. She looked back at the door, waiting for him to bust through and see ghosts going through his stuff.

"So, what theory are you working on right now?" Jack questioned as his eyes followed the motion of her flipping through the pages.

"Why would a kid keep a Valentine from elementary school that was insulting?" Morgan challenged, eyes still going over the signatures. She tapped one from just the year before. It had said. "Uh, I guess it was cool that you said hi to me a lot. See you next year. Electra V." She nodded and then turned the page to the index of students. Electra was not a common name, and not a lot of names started with V in that area, so she was sure she would be successful in locating the girl.

"No idea," Bunny said.

"I thought so," she said with a sigh. "I'm the only one of us who has been to high school and I have had the most recent experience with the human world and I am the one with the most up to date information on how kids act these days. I have a theory." She flipped up a book and displayed a page in the book. In the left hand corner was a black and white picture of a dark haired girl, eyes created with makeup an smile too fake to make her look genuinely pretty. The picture was circled in red pen. "I think he's been madly in love with this girl for a long time, but she doesn't appear to really care. I don't understand either. He's so much better looking than her! If he washed his hair, he would be really cute. Which is another thing that makes me think he's horribly depressed – he just doesn't care about anything anymore, even his hygiene. And judging by that-" she lifted her chin to indicate the arguing downstairs. "He doesn't get along with his family, but his sister really seems to care about him." Morgan rose and then swiftly sprinted to the chest of drawers. She pulled on them and jostled around items of clothing.

"Uh, Morgan, teenage boys are fond of girls going through their underwear drawer..." Tooth started to tell her anxiously.

"The hell they aren't!" Jack laughed. "Especially when it's an attractive one."

"Jack, dear, I appreciate it but at this time, I don't' particularly want to be flirted with. Besides, he can't see me. He doesn't believe." The bottom drawer, Morgan had run her hands across the back and pulled the clothes away. Lying across the bottom wood were several pictures, much of which had been taken at a distance and some drawn pictures. She groaned painfully and stood up after closing the drawer again. She walked back over to the bed and retrieved a thin notebook with pages falling out. She flipped through it, skimming quickly to discover several confessions, some she would rather not know, and some which rather concerned her. Toothiana peered over her shoulder and once more shook her head at the horrors within. "I knew it."

"So he's obsessed with a girl."

"More than that," Morgan said. "He's in love with her, and she just doesn't care. Neither do his parents, it seems." She picked up the open sketchbook on the bed and held it out to the picture he had just been drawing. "I think this drawing is an expression of his agony."

"Bit disturbing, that," Bunny gestured. Morgan's eyes rolled at him and then she snarled in annoyance.

"Maybe to you, but that doesn't mean he's disturbed. Have all of you forgotten the stuff I used to draw?"

"That was historical accounts," Jack reminded. "Stuff that actually happened. Real things."

"You're going to talk to me about real things?" Morgan laughed in offense. "Really? This is real too, Jack. These are his real feelings. This is what he feels. He may not be lying on the floor bleeding as he watches someone who loves him go after another, but he feels that way! And you should know that better than anyone else, Jack Frost!" He pursed his lips and looked at the floor in guilt. "It's an artistic expression of his pain, and it may not be what you like, but that does not mean he is a disturbed mind. I see the makings of someone who is depressed but not disturbed! This is his imagination, and it's real! You can't judge someone by what they draw, what they do, what they see even! And you know what.. all of you should know that better than anyone." She glared on them with disgust. "And Jack, you watched my family believe I was going insane because I saw truth. Maybe this kid is more sane than any of us because he can see what no one else can."

"But... it doesn't upset ya?" Bunny asked.

"Why should it? My drawings freaked people out. I drew blood dripping from Anne Boleyn's neck when I was 9 for Manny's sake and everyone thought I was mental." She pushed the sketchbook back in its place just as the yelling stopped and he began stomping up the steps. The boy's hand snatched a rectangular device off the edge of the dresser and he tapped his fingers across it before holding it to his ear. A minute or so went by and he began to speak.  
"Electra, hi! Yeah so I was call-" He pulled the phone away from his ear and grimaced. "I know you said... no, I know you said that... you can stop playing hard to get I kno- Maybe you just forgot you said... hello? Hello?"

"I thought you said he was in pain because he didn't think she was payin' attention to him..." Bunny whispered unnecessarily. Morgan bit her lip, trying to formulate a new theory.

"He seems to be under the impression she likes him..." Tooth said anxiously.

"Is little weird..." North added.

"It is, yeah..." Morgan muttered. "But its not his fault. Something is going on." The boy looked to his bedside table and groaned sadly. He ripped open the drawer and stared into its contents. On top of the mess of various items, Morgan could see a folded piece of paper, and a bottle of pills. She gasped as he looked over the two items for several moments. He appeared to be considering something, and then he picked up the note and crumbled it in his hands. He tossed it to the garbage pail before picking up his phone and dialing again. Another awkward phone call as he tried to convince Electra she did indeed express interest in him and Morgan snuck over to the pail. She flattened the letter and saw it had been dated three weeks ago.

"I don't understand..." she whispered when North took a curious peep at the scrawlings. "If he wanted to... be done... with... why wouldn't he have done it by now?" Jack turned back over to the boy and frowned at him talking animatedly with the girl.

"No, you said! There's something wrong, you told me..." he yelled with near anger at her. He pulled the phone away and stared at it. "I'll try again... she'll come around..." Bunny stepped forward and fumbled with the pouch that held the pollen in it, but Jack took his wrist before it plunged into the small pocket.

"No, don't," he told him. "I don't think your Hope is a good idea right now."

"Why?" he asked. Sandman formed images over his head, but Jack didn't want to see his response.

"Because, he obviously has some type of Hope. It's not healthy for some reason. He is holding onto a hope this girl will be with him, and I think if you give him more it might disrupt it and end badly."

"Then we remind him everything she's done!" Tooth said.

"No, don't do that either," Morgan said. "For some reason he's delaying everything, although it's clear he still has signs of depression. That might only agitate things and he might actually try to.. take his life. Wait on that." Sandy raised his hand. "No, Sanders. I think his Dreams would only consist of her. And I shouldn't mess with his imagination. Who knows what that could do?"

"I can do?" North suggested happily. Morgan nodded.

"He needs something. Maybe if we can get him to see the wonder in life."

"Coming up!" North laughed, and removed the small tinkling sleigh bells with their celestial chime from his coat. He stomped to the bell and shook them above his head several times. The boy's eyes widened and there was the glimmer of a grin on his face. He laughed and took his sketchbook again to start a new page. Morgan watched a medical ID bracelet jingle around his right wrist, a bright green stone glinting off the luminance of the overhead light.

"This is all we do?" North asked, putting away the bells.

"For... now..." Morgan muttered with conviction. "I just am afraid if we give him too much of something he'll react badly. I just don't understand how he could go from... as bad as this." She waved the note. "To... having a delusion that this girl is in love with him."

"Maybe it's sort of like... he has been wishing so long it has escalated into madness?" Jack wondered. "You saw that picture."

"And you've seen plenty of mine," Morgan snapped. "Do you really want to challenge that? It's art Jack. Creativity is not the same thing insanity."

"I never said that it's just... not the same as your old drawings."

"Why? Because I recorded things in history books? Truth has different mediums." Morgan snarled at him and gestured to Bunny to create another tunnel. "And if we're going to play the whole 'It's so weird and creepy' game, what about your daughter? She's eccentric."

"That's her personality!"

"Uh huh. Picking favorites!" she hissed at him before beginning her climb into the house. Jack jumped in after her and tried to catch up with her as she quickened her pace across the mossy dirt, trampling over flowers as she did.

"She's my daughter, Morgan!"

"And that excuses you from making prejudiced remarks from other people?"

"Of course not, but if Wendy ever drew something like that-"

"You would simply ask her to explain what's going on in the picture!" Morgan said. The others had already begun to follow but were staying some distance away from them. Their fights made them feel awkward and it was uncomfortable to be become involved. "Jack, I understand that sometimes art does represent a cry for help, but you don't jump to conclusions! You ask about it, because sometimes it's just an expression of creativity, a symbol, a metaphor!"

"Now you're starting to sound like Linda..." he teased, but Morgan was not in the mood for games. She rolled her eyes and stalked on forwards. "Come on, I'm just worried okay! Maybe you're right but we just can't ask him and it's clear his parents won't! Why are you so mad?"

"Why?" her voice trembled from the intensity of her rage she was holding back. "You know Jack! I have been in that place, I drew grotesque images and everyone thought I was insane! They didn't understand that I was just interested in the truth! The same things happens and you automatically think he's a disturbed child!"

"Did you see how obsessed he was with her?"

"Oh, you make me sick sometimes.. he's just lonely!" Morgan lifted her hosta plant to spray him with several dew drops which immediately formed into ice dots on his sweatshirt before she ran on down the tunnel, with Jack screaming after her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three days later, after the incident with the boy, Morgan was still bitter with Jack. She had worked her way up to being civil but still would not respond to his attempts to kiss her or hug her or anything else affectionate. She stole a glance at the letter in his hands before he smashed it, balling it together with annoyed fear.

"What's with the face?"

"Give me a kiss and I'll tell you," he prompted, with as much casual tone as she gave him.

"Tell me and I'll give you a kiss."

"Shit, Morgan, just stop..." She shook her head and started back into the living room. "Sophie's being immature, okay?"

"How so?" Morgan tried her hardest to mask her interest, but Jack could read her better than anyone else.

"Suddenly she's gone from worrying about Patrick coming after her since he got out of prison to having no problem at all, and believing she's perfectly safe and nothing will happen and isn't even bothering to lock her doors anymore."

"That... doesn't sound like Sophie," she admitted, beginning to show some emotion for the situation.

"It's like she lacks fear."

"Hmm." From the direction of Wendy's room, there was a loud thud and the two of them responded together by rushing to her room and rapping on the door.

"Snowdrop?" Jack asked. He waited for her voice.

"I just dropped something!" she said.

"What are you doing?" Morgan called through the small crack created by the almost closed door.

"I'm looking for the shadow!"

"What shadow?"

"You're funny, Mommy! You know what shadow?"

"I'm afraid I don't..." Morgan gave her husband a look of questioning and he shrugged. He didn't quite understand either.

"I keep dreaming about Neverland! And I thought I saw Peter Pan come in last night, so I am hoping he lost his shadow again and it's here! Then I can hide it away and he can come back!"

"Uhhh... Peter Pan isn't re-"

"You better not say Peter Pan isn't real," Jack warned her. She made a face at him.

"But he isn't!"

"Really? After everything you've ever said?" Morgan closed her mouth. "Honey? Listen, um... let his shadow come to you. Don't search for it, okay? And then you can take it..."

"And you don't think that's weird?!" Morgan hissed in a whisper that was less than gentle. "But the stupid drawing-"

"Her name is Wendy," he interrupted furiously. "She had parents who tell her to have an open mind and think about the possibilities of all the stories being real, and her mother controls imagination!"

"So this is my fault?!"

"No, because there's nothing be at fault for, just don't call me a hypocrite-"

Wendy pushed the door completely shut. After three days of hearing nothing but arguing from them, she was hoping to just invest herself in her dreams until everything passed.

* * *

**The other Guardians are not stupid, but they are from time periods very different than Morgan's modern world, and some habits are hard to let go of. Plus, Morgan is the one who sees the most truth, and she had this very same experience so of course she would be the one to see it.**

**Are you guys seeing tension here? Are you beginning to understand what's going on? Please let me know what you think is happening!**

**Have a good night! :)**


	35. Falling into a Debt

**My nephew was born! And guess when?! October 3rd! On Morgan's birthday! It's weird, because I developed Morgan, including her birthday, around the time my sister told us she was pregnant. And he was born on Morgan's birthday! I think that's pretty cool.**

**Something really cute happened the other day I want to tell you about. This little boy, around four years old started talking to me on the bus, and he was talking about superhero films. He had a little batman toy and when he left he had the batman toy give me a kiss. It was adorable.**

* * *

"I just don't understand..." Toothiana sighed as they took up their watch once again outside a house they had perched before for several weeks already. The weather was beginning to get incredibly warm with summer settled, but Jack's constant presence around the town had left the area much cooler than many other areas were seeing. Thankfully, the people in the small Scottish town did not seem to really be aware of a drastic change in temperature. They had begun their watches after discovering the family so broken and torn, the children hardly even knowing their parents and vice versa. Both parents were invested in their rigorous work schedules, and though they had a constant nanny around, it wasn't the nanny they wanted to be around. On top of that, their parents were so ambitious with their schedules, even when they were at home, they couldn't take ten minutes to play hide an seek. When Sandy discovered their mother try to pawn them off to playing with the dog, he knew the Guardians would need to intervene.

Their constant labor was a result from their poor pay, with three small mouths plus their own to feed and their bodies to treat to necessities. It was not an uncommon thing to hear the couple banter about their finances and tell their children they couldn't have things because it was too expensive. The relationship in the family began to strain. Then they slowly got happier, and the Guardians believed it was their influence – but their relationship status didn't change. The adults were more cheerful, but the kids still begged to be played with, and to have them around. The parents worked just as much and ignored their children's cries just as much. Their shopping bills started to get bigger and they subscribed to services they did not have the money to afford. They bought lottery tickets and every time they were convinced they were going to come into a wad of cash, one way or another. Suddenly, they built a deception they could spent as much as they wanted because they were to encounter a large windfall. But it never became the case, and never once did they stop and think about them potentially being mislead. They continued on, believing things would work out.

"Where does this delusion come from?" Morgan questioned, scoffing at how the husband clicked through pages on eBay. "For crying out loud, why do they need a gold waffle iron?"

"Tell me about it," Bunny said. "More like a gold egg cooker." Jack spun his staff around and jabbed his head with it. "Ow, blimey!"

"Priorities, Bunny," he said.

"You will never win with Bunny when it comes to eggs!" North laughed.

"I have priorities, thank you!" he barked at the group, but his fur still took on a pinkish hue.

"I don't even know where this happiness comes from," Tooth whispered. "They're happy all of a sudden, somehow think they're getting money with no reason at all, and their relationship with their kids remains static." Sandy eagerly waved his arms to catch their attention before turning through images of people sleeping and money. "They have money in their mattresses?"

"I think he means they think they can sleep on money," North whispered with his opinion. Sandy glowered and then slapped his own face.

"How can people get so deceived like that, and what's making them so?" Morgan whispered as they watched the scenes unfold before them.

"What they need is memory!" North declared, turning his eyes to the Tooth Fairy. The delicate face of the angelic bird fairy glowed and she turned to the small companion that buzzed over her shoulder. Baby Tooth, small and bright squeaked enthusiastically as she was given the orders to retrieve the tooth boxes. Like a small little soldier, she sliced her little hand in the air in the form of salute and flitted off for the Tooth Palace.

"I am getting so sick of seeing these stories over and over," Morgan grumbled. Jack placed his fingers on her shoulder and she let out an irritated breath. Jack rolled his eyes and let his hand fall back down, staring at the images that passed by the windows.

"You all right, mate?" Bunny said with concern. "The last few weeks, you and Morgs haven't been all over each other." Jack smirked at his playful comment but then frowned with what he meant by his wording.

"It's just a little bump," he told him. "We've had them before."

"She can't seriously be still mad about what happened with that boy's drawin' can she?"

"Nah," he said. "She forgave me, but it opened up a lot of other things. It's fine, we're okay. I'm not sleeping on the couch or anything and she cuddled up to me last night."

"Okay... it's just a row?"

"Yes, just a row."

"Pitch is behind this somehow," Morgan snarled. "But how, I mean it's nothing but a bunch of good dreams!... Sandy, you haven't partnered with him have you?" The golden man shook his head and his mouth dropped agape at her. He wagged his finger angrily and Morgan drew back at his offense. "It was a joke, I didn't mean to offend you!" Sandman smiled and then patted her head, his eyes twinkling with his own kind of humor. She giggled at his touch and then her brown orbs glistened with affection for the stout man.

"He's figured out some sort of new trick," Jack offered for an explanation and Morgan placed a balled hand under her chin while she listened. "Somehow, he can flip dreams, turn them into something good and use it against them. But we haven't even seen Pitch for a long time. He's been very hidden, which is weird."

"I don't even think I've heard a child scream in the night after seeing the Boogeyman or heard of anyone asking their bed or closet to be checked for several months," Morgan added when she remembered how they had not seen the shadows of evil across the land. They had by no means had defeated him and he seemed to just disappear from the world. Dreams that were getting better were now dropping into something worse and somehow fear was beginning to run the world without his presence, but they did not know what was happening.

"Right disturbing," Bunny said. The flutter of wings echoed faintly on the air as the little Tooth doppelganger came back, another little fairy with her and the two dragged the small round boxes with them. They watched with smiles at the two fairies float through the windows, their little bodies heaving the vibrant jeweled boxes on through with them. Toothiana, inside the house, smiled when she saw her little workers carrying the vessels of baby teeth for the individuals they were trying to save. The three of them flitted towards the kitchen, where the couple was sitting at the kitchen, spanning out a deck of cards. Toothiana touched her manicured fingers against the diamonds of the boxes delicately, and the three of them watched as the couple both stopped their laughing and raised their heads, faces shining with a healthy brightness with newly discovered adoration. The couple dropped their cards and their chairs moaned as they slid against the linoleum floor. The two of them rushed down the hall and into one of the bedrooms where both of the children were playing. Sounds of bubbling joy ricocheted off the walls and then there was the explosive screams of play. Tooth giggled at the melody of the play and then she gestured for the small fairies to take flight with her. A glance back at the family running into the living room together, where they began to sit down for a film together soothed her heart. The father suggested popcorn and he sprinted towards the kitchen. Passing under the light, his wedding band gave a green glint. Instinctively, she turned back towards the woman as she was flying through the window, spying something green also lighting up her ring. But, by the time she realized it, she had already flown through and was being greeted by the Guardians.

"Good job, Toothy!" North complimented, throwing her up into a large embrace. She laughed musically when he hugged her.

"How's that gonna keep them from throwin' all their money away?" Bunny wondered.

"Now that they want to be around their children, they'll spend more time with them," Jack answered. "They'll put their children as a first priority. They'll think of their kids, about what they would want them to do, and want to be a better example." Morgan's eyes looked over to him and she smiled through her blush.

"But it's not gonna last," Bunny warned.

"No," Morgan said. "Not while this... whatever the hell this is that Pitch must have a hand in is going on. But maybe it will buy us some time. And they're not the only family that are going to be dysfunctional that need our help. At least they'll be good for a while, while we figure things out." The sky was purple as the edges of orange sank down. North placed his hands on his waist and his belly protruded as he straightened his back with confidence.

"Soon, it shall be new day. Time to head home!" he said, before he whistled. Among the lightening darkness of the night, a trail of reindeer with an ancient sleigh bringing up the rear rounded their way to the house. Slowly, it slid into the rough and they piled in, Bunny doing so little nervously. Jack held back, just as Morgan was about to step inside.

"I think I'm going to stop by and see Jamie for a while," Jack suggested. "It's been some time."

"He's having financial troubles, isn't he?" Morgan said. Jack nodded.

"That's why I want to check up on him. You want to head home?" The comment was made with his already accepting she wasn't in the mood to be around him and just wanted to get home quickly. Morgan sighed, but then innocently grinned.

"I'll come with you," she said politely. "I should see Jamie too. It's been a while."

"You're not mad at me?" Jack asked with hopeful gaze.

"Not right now," she teased, creeping closer so she could entwine her fingers with his. "Things have just been stressful."

"Well, now, I'm the one who's supposed to be cold, not you," Jack whispered seductively to her.

"Oh blimey, just get, would ya two?!" Bunny declared, and North chuckled wildly. Sandy rolled his eyes as he floated into the sleigh, but appeared amused while Tooth smiled brightly, the little helpers buzzing around her head.

"We're going, we're going," Jack laughed as he took up Morgan's hand and the tow of them flung themselves against the wind. Some time of gentle silence and flight brought them right into Burgess, and ringing the doorbell of the house as it woke up to the morning. It opened within minutes, and Jamie stood before them. His eyes still dropped with sleep, his hair pointing in every direction where a brush had yet to run through it, dark hairs stretched around his chin, and his sleep clothes of a white t-shirt and sweatpants were wrinkled. In the town of Burgess, it was morning, and he had just woken up.

"How charming," Morgan teased lightly.

"When you knock on someone's door at 8 am, what do you expect?" he groaned, and left the door open for them to enter as he walked back to the counter which was finishing the coffee process as it leaked the black liquid into a large glass pot.

"Didn't you need to get the kids to school?" Jack asked. He shrugged and took a mug from the stack in the cupboard to pour himself some coffee.

"Alexandria did it. I slept in."

"Do you have any calls for work today?" Jack took up a seat at the table and swung his legs carelessly over the edge. It was uncomfortable for him to sit with them out, having them so long. Jamie rolled his eyes and kept the obvious boiling anger from pouring out of his ears.

"I haven't had any for a while," he said. "People just don't seem to care anymore. They are not fascinated with cryptids as much as they used to be. I mean, there have always been those who think what I do is ridiculous, but there have always been enough people who believe in what I do for the calls to come in. But the last few weeks... Things just haven't been that great. People are losing their... wonder in things, and their curiosity. They don't care to know about the mysteries of the world and that doesn't pay the bills. And Alexandria may be a damn good teacher, but she's still a teacher." He positioned his cup in front of him when he sat down at the head of the table and groaned. "I do not want to get some ridiculous retail job doing mind numbing work. I like what I do, I have always wanted to prove the existence of the strange and unbelievable, you know that. But money is really starting to get tight now."

"So what are you doing now?" Jamie shrugged. Morgan stood near her husband and turned her ears to listen to Jamie. Her eyes fell to the trash can, seeing a colorful pamphlet lying flat on top. She put her hands behind her back and craned her neck to get a better look.

"I don't want to ask for help. I keep having these weird dreams that I'm going to fall into a lot of money though, and I keep feeling like they'll come true somehow. Do you believe in premonitions? Does Sandy know if dreams have ever been linked to them?"

"He's never really said anything about that," Jack answered honestly, and Morgan snorted at the irony of his sentence. "Jamie, you know..."

"Don't offer me money, Jack, I have some pride." At that moment, Morgan's hand whisked the paper out of the trash and slapped her hand onto the table, holding the pamphlet under her palm.

"Yeah, some real pride you got, Jamie," she snarled, pushing the pamphlet towards Jack. Jamie made to reach for it, but the winter spirit had already picked it up and his eyes of blue were scanning it over.

"A casino?" he remarked.

"What's the problem with that?" he tried to say coolly, but his voice wavered with nervousness. His fingers played with a pendant on a cord around his neck. The pendant was in the shape of Nessie, and green in its color.

"Nothing for a once in a while thing," Jack said. "But it's not something you do when you have money troubles. You don't have money to spend, so you can afford to risk more."

"You're trying to use it to get more money, aren't you?" Morgan guessed,

"It's my life," Jamie huffed. His hand launched forwards ripped the paper out from them..

"But you're my brother!" Jack shouted. "It's a part of my life too! What's going to happen is you're going to have a few lucky breaks, and you're still not going to get calls so you'll keep going back and then you'll be addicted and further into debt! It's more prideful to ask for money than it is to drive yourself even further into debt."

"But maybe the dreams-"

"You know what's been happening all over the world, Jamie?!" Jack screamed with veracity. He rose and pounded his fists against the table. The top of the table now had a thin layer of ice on it, formed from the impact of his hands. "Somehow, people are no longer afraid of things anymore. Something is happening, and they believe the illusions they are being given – illusions of good things, and that later ruins their lives. We're trying to combat them, but you need to help too! Please don't let yourself fall into something you can't get out of."

"I don't have a gambling problem. It;s just an option. Don't lecture me on something I haven't even done." He stood up in an emotionless state and walked over to the sink to dump out the rest of his coffee.

"I'm only trying-"

"I have to get ready to respond to a call that isn't even going to come. Please show yourselves out."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"They went to see Uncle Jamie?" Wendy asked as she moved a red checker pieces across the red and black grid on the kitchen table. Tooth put a finger to the tip of her chin and tapped it with thought. Baby Tooth hovered over her shoulders and then chirped quietly in her ear. Toothiana laughed sinisterly and pushed a black piece forwards before using it to capture a red piece. Wendy gaped

"Yeah, but I don't think they'll be long," she told her.

"I had a dream about the circus last night," Wendy said, pushing a piece into the corner and groaning at how pathetic of a move it was.

"Did you?"

"Yeah. It was cool. I wish I had a bear so I could teach it to dance in a tutu."

"Was that in your dream?"

"It was."

"Well, we have polar bears here."

"But Mom doesn't let me near them... oh my God!" Wendy tore from the seat and sped to the window, where she stared out the glasses and pointed repeatedly. In the distance, on the edge of an ice cliff caked with snow were three white bears, spinning in ballet motions. They were wearing pink skirts of gathered tulle, turning in time with a nonexistent beat. Toothiana fluttered over to her and followed her finger. "See them? See them?"

"What are you pointing at?"

"The bears! The dancing bears!"

"Your mother is giving you a little too much imagination, there's no bears there!"

"Yes there is, plain as day, in pink tutus! It;s my dream! This always happens I have dreams, and they become real."

"Well sure," Toothiana said. "Dreams can come true. Your mother has even said the imaginations your mind comes up with can be true. But there are no bears out there right now."

"How can you not see it? They're right there!" Wendy kept jumping and jabbing at the window, but the Tooth Fairy could now make out anything remotely similar to a bear in a tutu, or a bear at all. Wendy grew more enthusiastic, insisting she retrieve a camera to capture it, but Toothiana just looked on her with concern. Whatever Wendy was seeing and doing seemed ti have a very similar to design to what was happening in the rest of the world.

* * *

**Are you starting to understand what's going on? I hope so.**

**I have never ever been able to see Jamie as anything as a cryptozoologist. Unfortunatetly, that isn't really a job you can study at school, it;s kind of something you have to do freelance, as least in most places. And with so many skeptics out there, I see it as a very hit and miss thing. You would have to operate independently and take calls and investigate. Not everyone can be MonsterQuest, in fact most people aren't as well known as that. So I could see potential problems with money and Jamie recieving cases.**

**So I think I am actually going to try and get some homework done. See ya when you can! Rosie Out.**


	36. Color Blind

**You GUUUYYSSS I am SOO SORRY! I have been trying forever to type this up, but its midterms and I am swamped in work and I just couldn't find the right words for this! Please accept my apologies! I'll do better for the next chapter! D:**

* * *

"You all must have a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock," Bunny told his companions while he protested opening up a tunnel into the apartment for them. He was not pleased with their newest mission and had been against it since it was initially suggested and had nearly begged to just stay in the Warren. "This is bloody insane, he deserves everythin' he's got comin'!"

"None of us are arguing with you!" yelled Tooth, who was, in fact, arguing and incredibly loudly. "But like all these other people we have encountered all over the world, he is ignoring the consequences and believes things will be okay even if he does nothing! We need to help him realize that he can't just let things be! Bad things will happen and he needs to take responsibility! Something is happening to him, just like everyone else, and we need to find out what it is and solve this!"

"He's a thief, Tooth," Bunny muttered calmly through his twitching mouth. "And he's not even one of those who stole money to feed his children or help someone in the hospital. He did it for the sheer thrill of it, because he could!" The emerald and blue bird fairy shot towards him and hovered, wings beating faster with all her angered intensity.

"But he's a good person!" she yelled, her feathers flared along with her emotions. The sheen on her feathers caught purple in the moonlight. The other Guardians were waiting around for the argument to finish. Morgan was leaning against the bookcase that stood in the middle of the living room, popping a book off the shelf and paging through it. Jack slouched against the wall and was using his staff to lean against. Sandy had grown annoyed quicker than anyone else and was bouncing a ball of golden sand in his hand. North had sat on the remote and boisterously laughed at a ridiculous commercial for drain cleaner. "I have his teeth, I know what he's done! Sandy's seen his dreams, knows the things he thinks about. This is his first offense and he was caught because he was sloppy. That's not something a criminal mastermind does, Bunny. And besides that, even the worst of people can be redeemed!"

"Oh yeah? And who falls into that category?" Bunny challenged. Now Tooth's face was ruby colored, aggression and frustration pushing forwards. Sandman wrinkled his nose and huffed before extending a finger directly towards North. The Santa Claus shrugged and nervously smiled bright. Bunny's ears turned and flatted against his fuzzy grey head, filled with shame for his words. Morgan, however, was left alone in her confusion, unaffected by the harsh reminder of North's past.  
"What do you mean?" she asked. "What did North do?" Though she was aware of his Guardianship and his stories with Ombric the Wizard and Katherine the Storyteller – figures she had come to learn were Father Time and Mother Goose. She knew North had developed a close relationship with the young girl, and his sacrifices for the village of Santoff Claussen had made him a Guardian. But she didn't know the story of his life before that.

"I was not very good person in Russia," North told her calmly. His cheeks rounded when the edges of his smile filled them, but there was a flush of red that was different from the rosy color of mirth he usually donned. It was more like shame. "I fought for no reason. I stole. I had gang. Spirit of Forest though I had good heart and I was eaten by bear, but was saved. She thought I was worthy, but members of my group not so much. They were shrunk." He demonstrated with the closure of his fingers. "Their red hats were pushed onto their bodies and that is what they wore for clothes!"

"Wait... but the elves-" Morgan's eyes widened as she put the pieces together. North laughed robustly and his blue eyes sparkled.

"Yes, the elves were companions. I was very scary ruffian."

"That was different," Bunny snapped.

"How was that different?" Jack interjected. "You're a Guardian, rabbit! You're supposed to protect everyone, and take care of them! In fact, I would say North did a lot worse things than that guy! No offense."

"It is truth," North told him gently, not at all hiding the fact that he did indeed feel shame for whatever it was that he committed in his past. "But I try make up for it now."

"And you're doing wonderfully, North," Tooth praised. North cackled proudly and then swept up the graceful lady in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Toothy, you are always so kind." They could hear the man humming softly from his position at the table in the kitchen. This was not the sound of a guilty man at all. In fact, he sounded incredibly carefree. The Guardians all gently moved along the hall and crept into the kitchen to get a look at him. On the kitchen table were tidbits and scraps of wood. In the man's hand was a boxed figure with wheels he was currently painting. Morgan swallowed. A guilty man probably would not be casually painting a model car if he understood what was at stake. Bunny narrowly avoiding colliding with the door frame. They might be able to be seen, but if they banged into things or met with an collision, they could be heard.

"When did this crime happen?" North said to Tooth.

"About a week ago," she answered.

"A week?" Bunny scoffed. "Don't ya think they would have found somethin' by now if they were going to convict him."

"No," Morgan answered. "It doesn't happen that way. I know TV shows make it seem like they can solve cases quickly, but that rarely happens, even with the easy ones. It takes time to trace evidence, go through ballistics, DNA."

"When did you start knowing stuff about police work?" Jack asked with curiosity.

"There are many cases that have made the history books you know," Morgan reminded him with a firm glance. He frowned and offered her a roll of the eyes and leaned against his staff, a sign of regular exhaustion.

"I know that," Jack answered. Sandy floated above them, fidgeting nervously.

"Then why did you ask?"

"But Morgan, that's famous things like... Charles Manson, the Zodiac Killer, the Lindbergh kidnapping, JonBenet Ramsey, the Unicorn Killer, Jimmy Hoffa, Jack the Ripper!"

"Unicorn killer?" Bunny repeated with confusion. Morgan took the opportunity to give a quick history lesson and her eyes warmed with the chance to do so.

"This guy, Ira Einhorn, beat his girlfriend to death and put her body in trunk for eighteen months."

"Sick!" Tooth gasped. Morgan nodded to her exclamation and impatiently twirled her hosta plant in her hands.

"What does that have to do with unicorns?" Morgan's lower jaw dropped, ready to give the explanation, but Jack zoomed right in front of her and spoke before she could.

"Einhorn means 'unicorn' in German," he explained. Morgan expressed her disgust with him for giving away the answer she had purposely been trying to build up to herself. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, but Jack looked away from her, clearly noticing her agitation. "Morgan, most of those cases are unsolved, which is why they're so famous. Everyone knows about Charles Manson, he's almost as famous as Jack the Ripper, you know about the Lindbergh baby because it was the son of the Aviator-"

"Actually, there's controversy on whether or not the man convicted actually did it-"

"I don't care about the history lessons right now!" Jack spat, his words venom to Morgan while she blinked with unexpected shock. "Point is, they're famous because they were unsolved."

"I happen to take an interest in anything factual!" she bellowed, stepping forward to take a stance in front of Jack. "I had to take a Criminology in school and I found it interesting and learned that, okay?"

"You're very smart, we get it, but it's getting really tiring that you show off your intelligence all the time!"

"You don't like that I'm smarter than you, do you?!"

"Smarter?" he laughed wildly. "My dear, I have 307 years on you! I have experience filled with a knowledge you could never even begin to know!"

"All right, come on now," Bunny interjected as he stepped forward into the kitchen. The man still sat at his table, putting on tiny details on his small model car. He was completely unaware that there was anything happening just on the other side of his table. He smiled as he painted, a thin gold ring on his thumb catching the light and glinting green as he did. "Shove off, you two."

"Are you serious?!" she taunted. "300 years, and you couldn't figure out how to get people to see you! You spent three hundred years making messes, freezing people's windows, creating scary patches of ice-" Tooth jerked on the back of Morgan's shirt, urging her to pull away from the situation. Sandy waved his hands desperately.

"This is not what we are here for!" North told them.

"I take it back," Bunny said quickly. "I liked it better when the two of ya were jumping into the bushes to steal some time."

"Quiet, Kangaroo!" Jack snapped, eyes flaring up as he scolded him. A thin line of wet residue had formed in Jack's eyes when she insulted his abilities to get people to see him. "I wasn't the one who was so filled with guilt and conviction that she couldn't go back and tell her ex that she was sorry and take him back! Instead, she turned to Cupid for a one night stand to give her the sex she had been craving so much!"

"When are you ever going to let that go?!" she screeched at him wildly. Her hands flew up into the air as she shouted. The man was oblivious to the entire scene. "I didn't do anything wrong! I wasn't with anyone, we were both consenting, he tried to help me! It may have be stupid but it's in the past-"

"The past means _everything_ to you, though!"

"Oh come off it, now you're being childish!" Sandy hid his face in his hands. Tooth patted his back, understanding.

"I'm not the one who's job it is to keep kids heads in the clouds!"

"I'm not the one who teaches Wendy to break into North's workshop!"

"We are _not_ bringing Wendy into-" The chirp of a phone shook and caused the man to look up from the table. He glanced around him, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Jack gaped at her, his eyebrows screwed up with the disbelief that Morgan had decided to carry her small phone along. "-you did not-"

"Shush," Morgan said casually and pulled the small brick from behind the corset belt tied around her waist. Her footsteps clacked as she ran back down the hall to answer the phone before the man heard any noises from the other end of the phone. "Yeah?"

Still back in the kitchen, Jack was clenching his fists. He swung his staff and the wind of it caught a small bowl on the counter. It slammed against the floor and split into six pieces. The man jumped at the sound but stood up, looking at the porcelain with suspicion before sweeping it together.

"She is so...!" he began, but the words to describe his current emotion towards Morgan's behavior had failed him.

"Mate, you've got to calm down," Bunny said. "We're all stressin' out right now!"

"Why does she have to be so difficult?!"

"She's not the only one being difficult!" Heavy panting beat behind them and Morgan's light footsteps sounding padding across the hallway as she arrived back into the kitchen. Jack forgot his anger for a second to contort his expression to one of great worry for what she had just been told.

"Brad wants us at his house. He wants to talk to us, right now if possible." Morgan jerked on her husband's wrist, pulling him forwards. Then she looked to North, waiting for some confirmation she could go.

"Go, we can handle little bump," North told her proudly. Morgan laughed with confidence for how well they would handle the situation. Bunny exchanged looks with him to provide his input on how he thought that was not the best of ideas, but complied and tapped the floor with his foot. It opened up to a tunnel and Morgan pulled Jack in with her. They reached the mossy floor of the rabbit hole and began to hurry down its path.

"Wait, what did – ow – what did Brad want?!" Jack yelled at her as she hurried along in front of him, a prospect Jack was currently finding incredibly annoying.

"He and Max are having issues."

"Issues?"

"They've been fighting a lot and they thought with us being married so long and having gotten together so well, we would be able to give advice to Brad about what to do."

"They want marriage advice?"

"Yeah..." she whispered, and then looked over her should. "Is that a problem, Jack."

He wasn't going to say it, but it was indeed starting to look like a very big problem.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The dirty splashed in the rusty bucket and Wendy screamed as it splattered over her work shoes. She hissed at the repulsive action and turned her broom around in the stalls of the reindeer. This was her punishment for her newest offense – raiding North's cookie jar. So now she had to muck out the reindeer stalls while her parents were out trying to save the world or whatever they did. She groaned, and instead remembered the film she had watched last night. Somehow, her parents had down time and curled up with her on the kitchen. Jack popped in an old film. A classic, he said, and exactly the type of story she would enjoy. It was called _The Wizard of Oz_, and she had liked it. That night, she had even had a dream about one of her favorite scenes. A color changing horse sounded like a great thing and she thought how it would be nice to have one.

A snout pushing into her back and she let the broom fall from her hands. She squealed and then let out an anguished whine. This kind of thing had been happening a lot.

"Comet!" she yelled. "I have told you, I hate it when you-" Then her hands flew up to cover her mouth. The usual brown pelt of the reindeer now had a purple sheen, quickly alternating between colors red, blue, green, orange, and yellow. "Oh my goodness, Comet, look at you!" She ran to him to pet the fur on the side of his nose, and discovering that the fur really did seem to be a rainbow. She was not imagining that at all.

"Prancer!" she said, fleeing to the other reindeer that was galloping gleefully. He also seemed to be more luminous in his color coordination. A quick stroke led her to the realization that Blitzen and Dasher were also many hues. Soon, every reindeer was, and she squealed when she saw Rudolph, his red nose casting a glow on the entire back of his rainbow fur.

"Oh, just wait until North sees you guys!"

* * *

**The cases I mention are all real cases (but you know that by now, right? ;) ) Unfortunately, what Morgan says its true. Your crime programs are wrong. It takes months for an investigation to be solved unless the criminal is really crappy. By saying it's been a week and he hasn't been caught is making them realize they have a little bit of time before the police comes and they need to get to him to realize the consequences of everything.**

**Uh oh, Jack and Morgan are a bit on edge? O.o I'll be better with the next update, I promise! As much as I love the idea of this arch, it's stressing me out. Once I get past it, it should be better! Night guys. Rosie out.**


	37. --No Chapter Just Update--

**I owe you guys an update. I try so hard to give you a chapter AT LEAST once a week because I know waiting sucks and really I wish I could go back to the one chapter a day thing that was awesome and it really kept me up to date because then I wouldn't lose muse or forget what happened as easily. But I want you to know what's been going on in my life. I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY I am going to keep at it I promise!**

**Three years ago my father died, and I was really close to him. I am really close to my entire family actually. And there was a lot of stuff that happened after he died. It's why I had to move twice already and there's a lot of financial stuff and it's why my mom remarried and there are problems with that now and we had to take my dogs to a foster home and ... a lot of stuff that would take about as long as my regular chapters to go through everything that has happened. Besides all that, I am trying to plan a wedding, trying to stay on top of my homework, taking five classes, working 30 hours a week (which is NOT voluntary. I'm getting it switched to never more than 25 because that's ridiculous) and work is strenuous on my body and I had three incidents at work three days in a row I had to fill out paperwork for (I cut myself with a knife that fell out of its package, I fainted because I haven't had time to eat, or time to grocery so I can actually eat, and I fell off a ladder. I'm okay though.)**

**Lots of stuff happening right now. I am living off of coffee and 5 hours of sleep each night and on the rare occasions I do have time to do whatever, it's usually just hanging out with friends because I am incredibly lonely and I want companionship and everyone leaves every weekend so I;m by myself in my house and my roommates are never around. And then there are times I'm just so tired I can't sit here and type something up, because I have discovered nothing tires me out faster than coming home, being exhausted, and typing 3,000 words for the amusement of me and you.**

**This all adds up to me battling depression, because on top of all of that I miss time with friends. I miss England. I miss my fiance, and I miss my dad.**

**Currently where I am in the story has a REALLY AWESOME scene coming up and I can't wait to share it... but I have to, and unfortunately you do too.**

**I'll come back I promise. :) Just believe.**

**Rosie out.**


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